May 20, 2019
Winners will be honored
in our August issue and in a
ceremony at our

TOTAL MEAL
SOLUTIONS SUMMIT
September 9 & 10 in Austin, TX

Enter at:

progressivegrocer.com/TMSAwards

“Let’s try a little queso fresco with our dinner
tonight and we’ll make something special
for the dogs too.”

IDDBA

COMPETITION
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FOOD SAFETY
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PEOPLE

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Merchandising Trends
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get in and out of the store with what works
for them.”

REPORTING, ONLINE
TECHNOLOGY has become one of the key
diﬀerentiators for many retailers including
those in our own industry. Convenience with
the accessibility of product information
continues to evolve. The IDDBA is providing
these trends and more, and it’s all available
online in What’s in Store 2019 - Digital.

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EDITOR’S NOTE
By Jim Dudlicek

Moment in the Sun
rocery retailers are seeking
any competitive advantage
they can find to secure shopper loyalty and long-term
profitability.
In this issue, we take a deep
dive into the competitive landscape of key grocery markets
across the country, drawing
on the findings of expert industry analysts. One of those
observers is Burt Flickinger,
managing director of the New York-based consultancy Strategic
Resource Group, whose roots in retail run deep.
Flickinger offers an extensive breakdown of the grocery battlefield as part of our report that starts on page 34. Ultimately,
he concludes, the winners are going to be those retailers that
most efficiently and successfully invest in capital expenditures,
particularly technology, ecommerce and sustainability.
For the last of these, Flickinger singles out solar power as
being of particular importance.
“Our research clearly indicates that up to 40 percent of
shoppers will shift a meaningful percentage of food shopping
to solar-powered retailers and away from retailers that simply
put sustainability statements on their webpage,” he tells Progressive Grocer. “Moreover, in states from the Northeast to the
Midwest and West, government mandates are for 50 percent of
commercial energy to be from sustainable sources, and solar is
the most environmentally and
financially beneficial.”
Solar power, Flickinger as- The success of
serts, “is the biggest consumer quality, value
and competitive advantage, and
and serving the
investment imperative for funding from ESG (environmental, community is the
social and governance) financ- winning common
ing, which is the single biggest denominator in
source of investment funding
food retailing.
growth in food retailing.”
Additionally, Flickinger says
that working with government constructively at the local, state and national levels is important to food
retailers’ success.
“Without a constructive partnership with government leaders, it can be catastrophic, as Amazon
and Walmart get most of the government billions
of giveaways that create a commercially, operationally and financially unbalanced and unsustainable food retail playing field,” he contends.
Talent will also be key — grocery executives who
responded to PG’s 2018 Annual Report survey told
8 progressivegrocer.com

us that it was the issue keeping them up most at
night. (Is it still, a year later? We’ll tell you in our
April 2019 issue.)
Flickinger argues that the winners in leadership
are retailers that “tend to promote from within,
rather than use big search firms with principals who
have neither been operators nor practitioners.”
And despite great strides over the past decade,
including those honored by our own Top Women in Grocery Awards (whose 2019 nominations
just closed, with winners to be revealed in June),
Flickinger contends that “food retailers fail to retain the best and brightest women. … In food retail, women make 80 percent of the purchase decisions for buying, yet no regional, national and
international food retailers are using marketing
agencies run by women.”
But through it all, high quality and lower prices
are at the core of what consumers want, Flickinger
acknowledges.
“The success of quality, value and serving the
community is the winning common denominator
in food retailing,” he says. Among those he names
as making the grade: B.J.’s Wholesale Club, Costco, H-E-B, Kroger, Marc’s, Market Basket, Sedano’s, Walmart, Wegmans and WinCo.
Success on these fronts by traditional players,
Flickinger maintains, will be “Amazon’s worst
nightmare for the future.”
Also consulted in this month’s feature is the esteemed industry expert Bill Bishop, of Brick Meets
Click, who identifies Raley’s as helping to drive the
premium segment. Read about PG’s visit to Raley’s latest concept, starting on page 22.

Total Meal Solutions

PG is launching a new awards program,
challenging retailers to share their best
concepts for meal solutions, from meal
kits to prepared foods. Watch for details
at Progressivegrocer.com.

Clean is Tidy’s very first unscented litter,
and also half the weight of the traditional
clumping litter. After one year on the
market, it’s now the #1 branded unscented
cat litter in the category.
We’re also innovating our entire line
of Tidy Cats LightWeight litters to be
now 100% dust free. Combined with
guaranteed ammonia odor protection and
even tighter clumping action, this litter
delivers against all of the top consumer
tensions and eliminates the dust, which is
increasingly a consumer concern.
PG: Do you have any suggestions on
ways retailers can merchandise their
selection of litter in ways that will let
consumers know about the new products
in the marketplace?

Progressive Grocer: At the retail level, it
seems that cat products are less prevalent
than dog products. Can you tell me about
the opportunity for retailers in the cat
segment? Are there certain products or
brands that retailers should be focused on
in order to win in cat?
Joe Toscano: While it’s true that dry dog
food leads in overall sales across the pet
category, cats should not be ignored. One
great example is the opportunity in cat
litter. Currently more than 33 million U.S.
households shop for cat litter, with around
50 percent of those shoppers
loyal to Purina Tidy Cats.
Litter is actually one
of the fastest growing
segments within the
entire pet care category,
growing over 7% in
2018 and expected
to be a three Billion
dollar business by
the end of 2019. So
the opportunity in
cat litter is ripe for
both manufacturers
and retailers alike.
PG: Tell me about
the latest trends in

cat litter, and how Purina is either leading or
reacting to those trends.
JT: In recent years we’ve seen a trend
towards the premiumization of cat litter.
Cat owners have come to expect basic
product performance, and they are
constantly on the hunt for added benefits
that their litter can deliver. We find that
pet owners want a product that’s not
only 100 percent safe and effective
for their pet to use, but also one that
performs in keeping their house tidy and
odor and dust-free. And they’re willing to
pay for these added benefits. Our data
shows that litter buyers are spending 11%
more per trip than non-litter buyers.
When it comes to innovation within the
litter category we have to acknowledge
that consumers see litter as a chore, and
since Tidy Cats is the leading litter brand,
it’s our job to provide a product that
delivers on solving the most common litter
problems cat owners encounter. We start
with identifying the consumer tension, i.e.
weight, odor or dust, and we design our
products to combat these issues. Take for
example Tidy Cats Lightweight Free &
Clean, which we released in January 2018.
With no added dyes or fragrances, Free &
S P O N S O R E D CO N TE N T

JT: There are a number of merchandising
and promotional strategies retailers can
leverage to win in litter and ultimately lift
their overall pet category sales.
● First, make it simple for your shoppers
to locate the litter section in your store.
Cat litter should anchor one side of your
cat department and be adjacent to dry
cat food, with navigational signage to
help shoppers find their chosen product.
● Also ensure you carry the right
assortment, with a focus on premium
products that deliver on form and
function. Highlight products that
offer multiple benefits and solve the
consumer tension that comes with a
category like litter.
● Next, ensure that you promote cat
litter as part of your ecommerce
solutions. Litter is heavy, and therefore
inconvenient to shop. Retailers should
promote litter as part of their click &
collect or delivery offerings. Capturing
the ecommerce sale also will spur repeat
purchase.
● Lastly, build a promotion strategy
around cat litter. Consider crosspromoting litter and dry cat food at
regular intervals, such as monthly. Also
consider adding cat litter to your spring
cleaning ads, since it goes hand and
hand with the cleaning category.

CONSUMER INSIGHTS

Market Research
Current Habits Versus Next Year

Consumers
Look to
Boost
Cooking
at Home
When looking at their behavior for the
past year, more than one-third (37
percent) of consumers indicated that
they were cooking at home more often,
and 30 percent plan to do more cooking
at home in the next year, according
to research from Progressive Grocer,
which, along with sister company EIQ
Research Solutions, surveyed 1,000
grocery shoppers about their cooking/
shopping/eating habits. Nearly one-fifth
(19 percent) are purchasing more fresh
prepared foods compared with the
previous year. Survey respondents were
sourced via ProdegeMR, reinventing
the research process by taking a
respondent-first approach. Visit
www.prodegemr.com/ensembleiq
for more information.

8% 1%

11%
37%

CURRENT

20%

CURRENT

53%

58%
2% 1%
30%

Will do more
next year

13%

CURRENT

54%

14%

23%

8%

4%

NEXT YEAR

9%

22%

11%

19%

4%

NEXT YEAR

NEXT YEAR

No change
Will do less
next year

65%

66%

Not applicable

COOK AT HOME

11%

MEAL PLAN

19%

13%

MEAL PREP

4%

16%

28%

CURRENT

52%

NEXT YEAR

7% 6%
23%

NEXT YEAR

68%

NEXT YEAR

69%

GET FRESH
PREPARED FOOD

64%

DINE OUT

9%
43%

54%

4% 6%

12%
21%

37%

14%

CURRENT

57%
11%

7%
25%

CURRENT

8%

of consumers indicated that
they were cooking at home more
often and 30% plan to do more
cooking at home next year.

66%

GET TAKEOUT

6%

9%
31%

17%

CURRENT

24%

CURRENT

CURRENT

5%

17%
6%
38%

6%

10%
44%

NEXT YEAR

12%

58%

69%

52%

33%

39%

NEXT YEAR

NEXT YEAR

48%
12%
GET FOOD DELIVERED

5%
GROCERY DELIVERY

Source: Progressive Grocer market research, 2019

12

progressivegrocer.com

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MENU TRENDS

Research & Analysis

Seafood Trends
as Opportunity
ISN’T IT TIME YOU STARTED ACTING
ON THE DATA YOU HAVE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS?
Food trends on restaurant menus are amazing predictors
of what shoppers will look for next on the shelf,
especially in the perimeter. Seafood is a staple in both
the frozen section and the fresh case — and this is
great data to help you deliver “ubiquity with a dose of
inception” to drive traffic in those key areas.
Branzino
MAC stage:
Inception — Ethnic
markets, ethnic
independents
and fine dining

This small white fish, also
known as European sea bass,
is often found in Mediterranean
cuisine. It has a delicate
flavor and few small bones.
This versatile ingredient can
be prepared whole grilled,
roasted, steamed, poached or
even braised.
On 2% of U.S. restaurant
menus
Up 79% on U.S. restaurant
menus
19% of consumers know it /
7% have tried it
Menu Example
Brio Tuscan Grille
Grilled Branzino & Summer
Panzanella Salad
Arugula, cucumber, tomato,
grilled red pepper, chickpeas,
red onion, croutons, feta, red
wine vinaigrette.

Cod
MAC stage:
Ubiquity —
Ubiquity-stage
trends have
reached maturity, and can
be found across all sectors
of the food industry. Though
often diluted by this point, their
inception-stage roots are still
recognizable.

The term “sustainable” is used
to describe specific farming or
sourcing practices that protect
the environment, public health
and animal welfare.

Another name for yellowfin
tuna, stemming from the
Hawaiian word “ahi,” this
ingredient is often used in
raw dishes such as sashimi
or poké, which are up 167
percent over the past four
years on menus. It’s also ideal
for grilling or searing.

Menu Example
Chick-Fil-A
Deluxe Fish Sandwich
Two breaded and deep-fried
cod fillets on a toasted buttered
bun with two pickles, a slice of
cheese, lettuce, tomato and a
side of tartar sauce.

This dense, flaky white fish
has a mild flavor and is a
staple on store shelves and
restaurant menus alike.
Everything from fish and
chips, fish tacos, and centerof-plate entrées use cod to
appeal to a broad base of
consumers.
On 13.5% of U.S. menus

Broccoli as an ingredient is most commonly
Frozen broccoli is most often used in a side
consumed at dinner, followed by lunch.
dish, followed by as a main entrée.
The prepared food category has experienced impressive growth this year, much of
3% Millennials
which has been driven by younger cohorts. Compared to older generations,
are spending the most per household in this category, and are likely seeking the
9%
convenience that prepared food options provide.
From the strong performance of breakfast meals
and combos, to high growth in ramen, sushi and breakfast meat, the quick-oriented and eclectic
tastes of younger consumers can be seen influencing growth throughout this section of the store.”

Demographic Spotlight
Looking across various prepared
foods, several
For soup
and
DINNER
LUNCHdemographic
OTHER shifts emerge.
SIDE DISH
MAIN ENTRÉE
OTHER
salads, older couples in the empty-nest or senior stage of life are spending more than we’d
expect, given their size as cohorts. Sandwiches, on the other hand, are catering to a younger
demographic, and are over-indexed in spending per household across families, particularly those
with preteen and teenage children. Prepared foods as a whole also index highly among
the largest families, that is, those with five or more members.

Prepared soup

$4.66

Generational Spotlight
Which cohort is spending the most per trip on prepared foods?

The sugar/alternative sweetener
category is in the midst of a decadelong drop in sales, which is expected
to continue.

The entire category
continues to face a
consumer base that
perceives sweeteners
as largely unhealthy,
artificial or not.

Consumers are turning away from
sweeteners at a considerable rate,
with less than one-fifth saying
theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re avoiding the products to one
degree or another.

Key Issues

A large number
of consumers are
either limiting their
consumption or
avoiding the category
altogether.

Sweetener limiters are chiefly
motivated by health, notably longerterm health concerns that are
unlikely to dissipate. Innovations that
address those concerns fall largely
into the realm of artificial sweeteners,
and consumers are seeking to avoid
artificial ingredients.

In sales, the lone bright
spot in the category
has been honey, users
of which are motivated
by an interest in natural:
Two-thirds of those who
use honey as a sweetener
indicate that they avoid
artificial sweeteners.
Honey launches in recent
years have capitalized
on consumer interest in
environmentally friendly
products.

18

progressivegrocer.com

The challenge in
growing the category
will be in combating
those negative
health perceptions or
delivering options that
require less sweetener
to achieve the desired
flavor profile.

raditional seafood — fish and shellfish
— is a star of the nutrition world, so
much so that the Dietary Guidelines
for Americans note that Americans
don’t eat enough seafood and urge
that we increase our intake to about
8 ounces per week.
Why? In addition to protein and a
host of vitamins and minerals, seafood
provides the omega-3 fatty acids EPA
and DHA (especially fatty fish like
salmon, mackerel, albacore tuna, lake
trout and sardines), which are linked to cardiovascular health, reduced
risk for obesity, and healthy pregnancy outcomes.
Despite seafood’s benefits, however, plant-based seafood substitutes
are surfacing in response to factors such as rising interest in plantbased diets, and concerns about the mercury content of traditional
seafood, animal welfare and the environment.

Retail Dietitians
School Shoppers

Retail dietitians are a resource for shoppers
who need help comparing the nutritional
value of traditional seafood and seafood
substitutes. For instance, dietitians can sort
out differences in amounts of protein and
omega-3s per serving; recommend alternatives for shoppers with seafood, soy, wheat
and other allergen issues; address concerns
about mercury content in traditional seafood;
and advise shoppers with health conditions
about nutrients of concern such as sodium,
which can be hefty in packaged versions of
both traditional and plant-based seafood.

Retail dietitians are a
resource for shoppers who need
help comparing the nutritional
value of traditional seafood and
seafood substitutes.”

Seafood Substitutes: The Nutrition Angle

It’s difficult to directly compare the nutritional value of traditional seafood
and seafood substitutes — and even to compare one substitute with
another. That’s because substitutes from different manufacturers are often
made with diverse ingredients, including different protein sources, and may
or may not contain plant-based omega-3s. For example:
Newtown, Pa.-based Good Catch Foods makes pouches of fish-free
tuna, sliders and burgers, and crab-free cakes. Ingredients include a
proprietary six-bean blend of pea, soy, chickpea, lentil, fava and navy
beans, which provides 14 to 16 grams of plant-based protein per serving, and a plant-based form of the omega-3 fatty acid DHA, derived from
algal oil found in sea algae.
Gardein, based in Richmond, British Columbia, offers fishless filets
made from soy-based textured vegetable protein, and crabless cakes
made from textured wheat protein. Both products contain 9 grams of
protein per serving and omega-3s from DHA algal oil.
Atlantic Natural Foods, in Nashville, N.C., offers canned Tuno and single-serving pouches of fishless tuna under the Loma Linda brand. Made
from non-GMO textured soy protein, Tuno provides 5 to 7 grams of protein
per serving, and the pouches offer 7 to 9 grams of protein each.
Ahimi, from New York-based Ocean Hugger Foods, is a plant-based alternative to the raw tuna used to make the sushi sold in restaurants and
supermarkets. Ahimi is made from fresh tomatoes, non-GMO soy sauce,
filtered water, sugar and sesame oil.

20

progressivegrocer.com

In addition, dietitians can steer individuals at high risk for foodborne illness
away from raw traditional seafood such as
sushi, and toward seafood substitutes or
properly cooked traditional types. High-risk
individuals include those with compromised
immune systems or decreased stomach
acidity, as well as older adults, pregnant
women, infants and young children.
Diane Quagliani, MBA, RDN, LDN, specializes in
nutrition communications for consumer and health
professional audiences. She has assisted national
retailers and CPGs with nutrition strategy, web content
development, trade show exhibiting, and the creation
and implementation of shelf tag programs.

MARCH 2019

Store of the Month

Concept store is
the ‘end zone’ of
transparency and
nutrition to which
Raley’s aspires.
By Jim Dudlicek
Photography by Vito Palmisano

Market 5-ONE-5
Sacramento, Calif.

What’s 5-ONE-5?
The store’s name stands for
what it delivers, its mission
and what it represents for
consumers.
5 senses: see, hear, smell,
touch and taste
ONE: Organics, Nutrition,
Education
5 essential nutrients:
carbohydrates, fats,
proteins, vitamins and
minerals, and water
“The old rules don’t apply
here,” Market 5-ONE-5 asserts
on its website. “Instead, we’ve
carefully curated every item
on every shelf in every aisle.
Simply put, if a product doesn’t
meet our rigorous standards,
we don’t carry it. And if
you’re not sure what product
is right for you, then our
knowledgeable team is here
as your resource. They know
the farmers, fishers, ranchers,
bakers, chefs and producers
we work with, and will help you
find your new favorites.”

PROGRESSIVE GROCER March 2019

23

STORE OF THE MONTH

Market 5-ONE-5

he future of grocery isn’t only about
food — it’s about nutrition.
That’s the mission that Michael Teel,
owner and chairman of West Sacramento, Calif.-based supermarket chain
Raley’s, had in mind when he founded
Market 5-ONE-5, the company’s new
independently run banner aimed at
boosting transparency and educating
consumers on how to eat better.
It’s the first of what President and
CEO Keith Knopf envisions will eventually grow to as many as 40 stores
and serve as a guide for the transformation of the 129-store Raley’s chain,
whose scale makes it a great incubator
for the fledgling concept.
“This store is the end zone,” Knopf
tells Progressive Grocer during a recent visit to the 11,000-square-foot
casually upscale market in a historic
district in downtown Sacramento. “It’s
where we want Raley’s to be.”
And just where is that?
“It’s a foundation built on nutrition,
not just on food,” he says. “We believe
the health of people in this country has
been compromised by the way food
has been produced and marketed.”
To that end, Market 5-ONE-5 was developed to meet the
needs of consumers who are overwhelmed by trying to decipher food labels and ingredient lists. The products offered
are held to the highest standards of health and nutrition set
by Market 5-ONE-5’s brand promise of minimally processed,
organic and sustainably sourced items that are free of unrecognizable ingredients not found in nature.
“This is what grocery shopping can be and should be in the
future,” Knopf says. “We hope it leads the way. It’s our responsibility to do better and help people live more informed lives.”

This neighborhood market concept is founded on the principle that quality, nutritious food should be accessible and
affordable. Every item was selected according to three core
values: organic, nutrition and education (ONE).
“Market 5-ONE-5, and what it stands for, has been a vision of ours for a long time,” Teel says. “Its purpose is to offer our community access to fresh, nutritious and affordable
food. Its mission is to help people live healthy, vital lives by
taking the guesswork out of understanding nutrition.”
Hired from inside and outside the grocery industry, store
staffers are committed to providing exceptional service. They
include chefs, foodies, urban farmers, nutritionists and a registered dietitian. “Our biggest strength is inside our store,”
says Kevin Wright, general manager of Market 5-ONE-5.
“We have diversity in knowledge and skill sets.”
PROGRESSIVE GROCER March 2019

25

STORE OF THE MONTH

Market 5-ONE-5

Among the many offerings packed into the compact yet inviting space, the store features wine by the
glass; beer and kombucha on tap; a coffee, tea and
juice bar; and space for indoor and outdoor dining.
The location also provides seasonally prepared cuisine for in-store dining and delivery, with the market
offering both click-and-collect and delivery service.
“With the exception of a couple soups, everything is made in-house from scratch — no kits,”
says Michael O’Connors, store team leader, explaining that all ingredients in the prepared food
section are either organic or natural. “We have
more control over the quality — see it from start
to finish. … We have at least two chefs stocking
the hot bar, batch after batch, every day.”
The store is highly curated, with many local
products and few mainstream brands. The organic produce is locally grown and delivered daily. A
full-service butcher shop offers a wide selection of fresh, humanely raised natural and organic meats; all seafood is wildcaught. Prepared foods are chef-driven, with ready-to-eat,
custom and grab-and-go options. Most of the beer is craft,
much of it from local and regional brewers; the wine selection
is similarly diverse; and a daily happy hour serves both, along
with local coffee in the café.
“Market 5-ONE-5 is about conviction to a core set of
principles,” Knopf says. “We don’t stock products we don’t
believe in, so customers can trust everything on the shelves.
Our team members know exactly where our products come
from, what is in them and how they were produced.”
26

progressivegrocer.com

Always Something New

During a store walk with O’Connors, he stresses Market 5-ONE-5’s fixation on organic, local, clean foods.
“We’re much more seasonally driven,” he says of
the 100 percent organic produce offering; fruits, vegetables and floral items are provided by local suppliers.
Colorful art calls out selections. “We have an instore artist that makes our posters,” O’Connors notes.
End caps and featured displays include products
closely aligned with wellness needs (e.g., nondairy,
low sugar) as well as local demands. “Sacramento loves plant-based protein,” O’Connors says,

pointing out a display of energy drinks boasting
20 grams of plant protein. “All our breads have
no preservatives. Quite a few are organic.” Breads,
cakes and pastries are delivered daily from local
suppliers that use wholesome ingredients.
The freezer case is dominated by vegetarian and
vegan items, and the store does a brisk business in
Beyond Meat plant-based products. “We have to
order as much as we can, because the demand is so
high,” O’Connors notes.
That said, the meat department is built around
a full-service butcher counter offering house-made
Market 5-ONE-5’s deli carries
sausages, some grass-fed beef, and value-added senatural meats, carefully
lections seasoned with house-made marinades and
portioned to create signature
local spices. “Everything is hormone-free, no antibiand custom sandwiches.
otics ever. If it’s not organic, it’s natural,” O’Connors
Salads, sides and entrées are
says, noting that hanger steaks and in-house grinds
created by a team of chefs.
are big sellers, along with pepper-crusted burgers that
are “great for barbecues.” As for seafood: “We only
carry wild-caught, never anything farmed.”
At the whimsically named Mermaid Sushi counter, a chef rolls sushi to order, using sustainably procured fish and organic ingredients.
Nearby in the deli, consumers can order a cus20954_2019_Trade_Ads_Mar_Progressive_Grocer_Half_Pg_Ad_FNL.pdf
1
2/18/19
AM
tom8:58
sandwich
or opt for one of the store’s signature

This is what
grocery shopping can be
and should be in the future.
We hope it leads the way.
It’s our responsibility to do
better and help people live
more informed lives.”
—Keith Knopf, Raley’s president and CEO

28

progressivegrocer.com

STORE OF THE MONTH

Market 5-ONE-5

PROGRESSIVE GROCER March 2019

29

STORE OF THE MONTH

Market 5-ONE-5
The grab-and-go case is a popular
destination for the lunch crowd at
Market 5-ONE-5. Sandwiches and salads
are made on the premises.

selections, like the delicious roast beef on ciabatta with onion
relish, pickles, goat cheese and romesco sauce sampled during
PG’s visit, along with several house-made deli salads.
A team of experienced chefs turns out a variety of entrées
and sides crafted from wholesome ingredients, creations like
wheat berry and marinated beet salad with citrus vinaigrette
and New Mexico spiced flank steak.

Raley’s Future
With Market 5-ONE-5’s inaugural store open since May 2018,
Raley’s is already planning more locations.
In fact, the company is actively seeking new store sites and hopes
to be able to announce up to three additional locations in the not-toodistant future, according to Keith Knopf, president
and CEO of West Sacramento, Calif.-based Raley’s.
How long might it take for the fledgling banner to
reach the 40 locations that Knopf envisions? “There’s
a lot of factors,” Knopf says, suggesting that the
process could take “not less than five, not more than
10” years, helped along by Raley’s capital resources.
Meanwhile, it’s hoped that some of Market 5-ONE-5
will rub off on its parent. “The learnings from 5-ONE-5
will help accelerate the transformation of the Raley’s
banner,” Knopf notes.
Raley’s has “a legacy of quality and service, but not
necessarily health and wellness,” Knopf says, adding
that it’s hoped that the influence of Market 5-ONE-5
will help the parent company “transform at a rate that
customers can understand and grow with. … We’re
proud it’s an extension of the Raley’s business, but we
don’t go too far to stress the connection.”
In fact, Market 5-ONE-5, founded by Raley’s Chairman Michael Teel,
is operated as an independent company with its own supply chain.
“There’s an advantage to incubating a concept under the umbrella of

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progressivegrocer.com

There’s also a grab-and-go case stocked
with sandwiches and salads, all made in
house, with a three-day shelf life, but they
seldom last that long. “During the lunch
rush, we get wiped out,” O’Connors says.
Wright adds: “We have a large contingent of office workers who come in
for lunch. We have a hot bar we’re really proud of.” A hot-bar fan favorite is
the cauliflower mac and cheese, which
O’Connors notes is Keto friendly. “We
go through that like crazy,” he says,
adding that the store is working on an
in-house pizza program.
A café area offers limited seating inside, with additional space outside, although alcohol can only be consumed indoors; patrons can opt
for single cans of beer if they don’t care for the daily
tap offerings, which also include kombucha.
In fact, between tap and ready-to-drink options, Market 5-ONE-5 boasts one of the most
extensive selections of kombucha in Sacramento,

the parent company,” Knopf acknowledges. “It allows us to test and
learn. The scale is there to support it … but it has a life of its own.”
As Market 5-ONE-5 looks to open new stores, “Raley’s will likely
expand through acquisition,” Knopf tells Progressive Grocer, within
its core market, the northwestern quadrant of the United States
(Raley’s currently operates stores in northern California and Nevada).
The company is also pursuing other
innovations. ‘We’ve leaned into ecommerce in a
heavy way,” Knopf says, noting that the retailer
has tapped talent from the specialty apparel,
department store and pet sectors.
Additionally, as the retail industry seeks a new
balance between digital and brick-and-mortar
sales, Raley’s is re-evaluating its store footprints.
“We have stores that have more space than we
need because we curate our assortment. We’ll
be looking at strategic partners that complement
our brand and drive revenue,” says Knopf, who
came to Raley’s in 2015 from department store
operator Kohl’s, which recently revealed that it’s
partnering with Aldi as Kohl’s reassesses its own
square footage.
“We’ve already pruned about 10 of our stores
that didn’t fit anymore,” Knopf says, noting that
in the past year, 22 Raley’s stores have been reconfigured to
accommodate ecommerce growth as part of its hub-and-spoke
delivery model. “We’re comfortable with our current portfolio.”

STORE OF THE MONTH

Market 5-ONE-5
where offerings sit alongside the dairy department, which showcases natural, organic and local brands of milk, eggs and butter.
With more than 70 craft brewers in the greater
Sacramento area, Market 5-ONE-5 stocks more
than 200 varieties of craft beer. “Most of what
we feature is local,” O’Connors says. “it’s always
changing — it’s so seasonal. Seems like every three
weeks, you get something new. It’s all small-batch,
always rotating.”
Additionally, there’s a vast curated selection of
wines from California and beyond. They include
organic wines as well as biodynamic varieties,
which O’Connors explains are “organic to an extreme — if a caveman did it.” The store is also
popular for its Keto-friendly wines,” he adds.

In Our Backyard

Market 5-ONE-5’s location has special meaning
for Raley’s and the city of Sacramento.
The repurposed structure in which the market is located was, at times, a furniture store
and a Goodyear tire center in a historic district
on Sacramento’s R Street, home to the state of
California’s first railroad and industrial corridor.

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Excavation of the site, which had to
be brought up to current earthquake
codes, unearthed intact ancient glass
bottles, century-old license plates and
other artifacts, some of which are now
on display in the store.
“The first of its concept needed to be in
our backyard,” Knopf says of the site. “We
wanted to give back to the community. We
wanted to be close [to corporate headquarters] so we could learn more quickly.”
Chelsea Minor, Raley’s corporate director for consumer and public affairs,
says that the store’s location creates “a
great synergy with Sacramento’s farmto-fork” scene. Wright adds: “With a
rich history of agricultural innovation
and developing foodies, Sacramento is the perfect home for the
store’s inaugural location.”
Since the company is creating a new brand that’s trying to
gain exposure, “garnering new customers has been the largest
challenge,” Wright admits. “We want people to better understand the brand and believe in what it represents. Once customers understand the position of the store, retention is solid.”
Social media is helping as well, notes Elizabeth Sotelo, the
store’s experience manager. The market has received a big
response on Instagram and Facebook not only from visitors
sharing their experiences, but also from the store calling out
new items and sharing nutrition information.
“We’ve brought so many people into the store with that,”
affirms Sotelo, who’s been busy planning programs with area
schools, animal shelters and local agencies. Among them:
a nutrition-themed art show for kids who can display their
work at the store.
The market has further strengthened ties to the neighborhood by holding a contest for local artists, with winners getting
to display their work inside and outside the store, Knopf notes.
Additionally, a portion of every eligible customer purchase is
donated to a local charity, Wright says. Plus, the store has become an incubator for local vendors developing new products.
“We have a great weekly business due to all the office foot
traffic in the area, but the weekends are slower,” he observes.
“We’re focusing our social efforts on weekend events to draw
customers in. The store has hosted health fairs, pet adoptions,
partnerships with local schools, and a daily happy hour to
create a buzz in the community.”

The store doesn’t need to be be big, its leaders contend, because its selection is so well curated — they’ve done all of the
hard work for consumers seeking food that’s better for them
and more information about what’s in it.

“The items on the shelf are trusted,” Minor
says. “Trust is embedded in the brand.”
Knopf notes that nutritionists “influence merchandising decisions and educate customers.” A
dietitian was on the store’s founding leadership
team; several offer guidance in the store.
“I want to cut through the mud of information
and provide good nutrition information, speaking
to people on a personalized level,” says Yvette Waters, corporate nutrition strategist and brand influencer for Raley’s. “Whatever their needs or preferences are, they have options … so they’re making a
more informed choice.”
With an extensive banned-ingredient list, “everything here is already vetted,” notes Waters, who
reviews all of the company’s nutritional messaging
“and take[s] lots of calls” from curious consumers.
“This is a great testing ground for innovative products while showing how important it is to have that
baseline understanding of nutrition,” Waters says
of Market 5-ONE-5. “The most important thing is
pushing for transparency, to help people understand
there’s nutritious food at a reasonable price. We don’t
want to be preachy — we just want to provide the
information. Nutrition doesn’t have to be stuffy.”

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ANALYSIS

Grocery’s Competitive Landscape

THE
BATTLE
FOR
BASKETS
E XPERTS WEIGH IN
ON REGIONAL MARKE T
CONDITIONS AND WHICH
PL AYERS ARE EQUIPPED
TO COME OUT ON TOP.
By Jim Dudlicek

arket disruptors are
giving stalwarts a
run for their money,
compelling grocery
retailers to be constantly innovating
and ever vigilant.
But even the
disruptors can be
disrupted, and
ultimately success
comes down to
how well you know, connect with, engage and serve your market.
That means being all in on shopper insights, talent development
and diversity; learning from the wins and losses of parallel sectors;
and delivering a seamless experience that doesn’t let consumers
discover that you don’t have something they need.
To paraphrase the wise sensei Mr. Miyagi in the inspirational
1984 film “The Karate Kid,” either you do retail “yes” or you do retail
“no” — you do retail “guess so,” you get squished, just like grape.
Despite continuing industry consolidation and the presence
of several strong national giants, the battles for dominance are
playing out regionally. Still, it’s those big players, assembled
from formerly independent regional banners, that are leveraging
their scale to disrupt or be disrupted.
Bill Bishop, chief architect of Barrington, Ill.-based Brick
Meets Click, offers Progressive Grocer his thoughts on the state
of competition in key U.S. markets.

34

progressivegrocer.com

The Northeast is competitive, “but there have been
no major competitive disruptions, with the exception
of Lidl’s entering the New York market, which will increase competition and probably trigger a price war,”
Bishop asserts. In the South, “Walmart, Publix, Lidl
and now Wegmans are all expanding in ways that are
increasing the pace of competition,” he says.
In the Midwest, Aldi and Hy-Vee “are both expanding
and increasing competition,” Bishop notes, while in
the West, Kroger and Aldi “are disrupting an otherwise
generally stable market.”
As competition ramps up, which retailers are in the
best position for success? In New England, it’s Ahold

Key Takeaways
Shopper loyalty to a specific chain
is becoming more important in the
modern landscape of home delivery and
immediate fulfillment, and has emerged
as a good barometer of a retailer’s health.
Strong regional and independent
retailers are racking up wins in key
markets across the United States.
Hard discounters stand to make major
inroads, especially in regions with high
costs of living.

ANALYSIS

Grocery’s Competitive Landscape
Delhaize, Bishop says, “because of their experience competing
successfully in Europe, and ShopRite, because of their strong
prices and reputation for innovation.” In the South, he sees Walmart
continuing to win, “because of their EDLP and online grocery focus,
and Publix, because of their stellar customer service.”
In the Midwest, Bishop names these retailers as his top three:
“Kroger, with all of their innovation; Hy-Vee, driven by their exceptional culture; and Aldi, with extreme value and small-store convenience.” And in the West, he says, “Kroger, with some historically
strong KMAs and all the innovation, is probably best positioned for
success, followed closely by Walmart and Aldi.”
Burt Flickinger, longtime industry observer, analyst and
managing director of the New York-based Strategic Resource
Group, makes this prediction: “The best leaders with the best
women, who strategically invest in the business and hire from
within, will be the big winners.”

Loyal and Lingering

A customer’s loyalty to a specific chain is becoming more and
more important in the modern landscape of home delivery and
immediate fulfillment, and has emerged as a fairly good barometer of a business’ health.
“The grocery landscape is changing rapidly. There are many
factors impacting the traditional experience, such as online-to-store
pickup, that affect how much time we spend and how frequently
we visit,” says Cameron Peebles, CMO of InMarket, a mobile-at-retail marketing platform and app developer based in Venice, Calif.,
that analyzes trends and patterns to provide its clients with a near
real-time understanding of modern shopper behavior.
InMarket provided PG with an analysis of the top grocery retailers
by region (detailed in the accompanying charts) and how they rank in
terms of shopper loyalty (where they shop most often) and dwell time
(where they spend the most time and, presumably, the most money).
In terms of loyalty, there should be no surprises for most industry
watchers. For example, the top three grocery chains in the South,

It’s no
surprise that
grocery is a
regional game. ...
The grocery
landscape is
changing rapidly.
There are many
factors impacting
the traditional
experience, such as online-to-store
pickup, that affect how much time we
spend and how frequently we visit.”
—Cameron Peebles, InMarket

36

progressivegrocer.com

according to InMarket’s data — Publix, H-E-B and Harris Teeter — are considered leaders in their respective
markets, with deep ties to their communities. Similarly,
loyalty in the West is led by three Kroger-owned banners, Fry’s (Arizona), Ralphs (Southern California) and
Smith’s (Utah, Nevada, New Mexico).
Loyalty in the Northeast is led by Giant Eagle, Stop
& Shop (Ahold Delhaize), and ShopRite (Wakefern);
surprisingly, considering its avid following, Wegmans ranked only sixth in InMarket’s study. Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle also ranks tops for loyalty in
the Midwest, with stores in Indiana and Ohio, followed
by Kroger (operating under its own banner, as well
as Mariano’s in the Chicago area and Pick ‘n Save in
Wisconsin) and Whole Foods Market, based in Texas
but with a strong national following.
Look at dwell time in these regions, and the InMarket
data paints a different picture. In the South, shoppers
are spending more time at The Fresh Market (based
in North Carolina), Whole Foods and Lowes (Carolinas). Up north, ShopRite leads in lingering shoppers,
followed by Market Basket (New England) and C-Town
Supermarkets (New York).
In the Midwest, consumers are shopping longer at
Marc’s, a 60-store grocery and drug chain based in
Ohio; Whole Foods; and Fresh Thyme, a regional chain
with headquarters in the Chicago suburbs. Meanwhile,
out West, Whole Foods leads in shopper dwell time,
according to the InMarket data, followed by Colorado-based Natural Grocers and El Super, a Hispanic
chain with 59 stores throughout California, Arizona,
Nevada, New Mexico and Texas.
“It’s no surprise that grocery is a regional game, but now
we have a more clear-cut picture as to how these chains
stack up,” Peebles says. “You can look at a Northeast-only
chain like Stop & Shop, which at 12th overall wouldn’t make
a national top 10 for loyalty. But relative to the rest of the
Northeast, its performance is quite impressive.”
How do national chains like Whole Foods, Trader
Joe’s and Aldi stack up against fierce regional competition? “They’re typically in the middle of the pack, with
Whole Foods ranking No. 3 in the Midwest as the best
showing,” Peebles notes. “Aldi is toward the bottom
in each region. It’s clear that shoppers still prefer their
regional stores over the national chains.”

Regional Battles

Flickinger recently conducted an extensive analysis of
regional grocery markets and shared his findings with PG.
“The Northeast is evolving from one of the most
over-stored markets in North America to one of the
most competitive U.S. markets,” he says, offering some
historical context. “Due to the oppressive taxes in most
Northeast cities, counties and states, and most of the
northern U.S., as well as higher operating and utilities
costs, many of the big chains had challenges investing
in cap ex, while taking on unsupportable debt.”
This, Flickinger says, led to the bankruptcies of many

of the biggest supermarket chains of the 20th century,
including Grand Union, A&P, Penn Traffic, Fairway and
Tops. “The supermarket bankruptcies in seriatim have
created a tremendous food retail vacuum for retailers
with outstanding leaders and executive officers to capitalize on by accelerating their highly successful food
retail expansion,” he observes.
That competition is coming from abroad: “From what
our team studied in the EU, U.K. and Ireland, Lidl is
bringing its best leaders to transform U.S. food retail,
starting with two ‘pincer moves’ in the Northeast. For
perspective, we saw how quickly Lidl and Aldi, as well
as Ocado, ran Walmart/Asda out of its last European
strategic salient in Ireland, Scotland and England.”
Lidl’s bold moves include the “transformative” acquisition of Best Market on New York’s Long Island, as
well as in New Jersey, and its conversion of “abandoned, high-volume supermarket sites like Pathmark in
Philadelphia,” Flickinger says.
“After some early Southeast deceleration, Lidl is
accelerating and converting consumers quickly as
it becomes a major force in food retailing along the
Eastern Seaboard, and ultimately across America,” he
notes, adding, “Aldi will move very successfully in both
the Northeast and all U.S. markets.”
Conversely, Flickinger continues, Whole Foods/Amazon is having some of its biggest U.S. setbacks in the
Northeast. “After bulldozing a huge Bon-Ton department store, Whole Foods opened in an ideal location
near the busiest Canada-U.S. border crossing and
numerous universities, colleges and community colleges in the Buffalo-Niagara region,” right in Wegmans’
territory, he notes. “The Wegmans are some of the
best and fiercest competitors in food retailing, and their
outstanding operations team never let Whole Foods/
Amazon get out of the starting gate.”
Additionally, Flickinger says, “great independent food
retailers added competitive pressure, and BJ’s Wholesale
Club and Walmart, with more organic and natural foods at
better prices, all crushed Whole Foods/Amazon.”
In addition to Market Basket, Wegmans, Big Y and Stew
Leonard’s “having exceptional success with both new and
existing stores,” Flickinger notes, “Ahold Delhaize, under
new leadership, is gaining sales and market share in New
England,” asserting that Ahold Delhaize’s primary struggles
are in New York City, Long Island and New Jersey.
“With the legendary leaders of the Cullen family
selling King Kullen to Ahold Delhaize, Stop & Shop may
achieve better operating costs and savings, which will
be passed along in the form of lower prices to Long
Island food shoppers,” Flickinger says. “Long Island
shoppers are already paying some of the highest costs
of living in the U.S. Saving money on groceries is the
only way for Long Island working families to practically
balance their monthly cost-of-living budgets.”
The retailer with the greatest risks in the Northeast
appears to be the Tops corporate store group, Flickinger
points out, “as its independently owned and operated

franchisees continue to be big winners, and Tops corporate has not yet
appeared to fully glean the lessons in operating success from its independently owned franchisees, the Perna and DiMino families.”
Meanwhile, he observes, “Golub/Price Chopper may have longer-term challenges as its Market 32 stores appear to lose market share
to Wegmans, Wakefern/ShopRite, DeMoulas/Market Basket, Ahold
Delhaize’s Hannaford, and others.”

38

progressivegrocer.com

Sedano’s is the “major new news” in the Southeast,
Flickinger says, adding, “The great Herran family leadership team has partnered with Takeoff.com e-grocery
retail and Jose Aguerrevere, Max Pedro and Curt
Avallone to ‘checkmate’ Amazon with micro fullfillment
e-grocery centers, with robotics and mechanization.”
Bankruptcies, he notes, “have been a tragic theme in
the Southeast as private equity-owned food retailers have
outsourced operations and struggled financially, as Bi-Lo
went bankrupt with Bruno’s, and then declared bankruptcy with Southeastern Grocers (SEG).” At press time for
this issue, SEG had announced the closure of 22 stores,
reported by progressivegrocer.com
Kroger and Harris Teeter continue to hold and gain
share in the region, Flickinger observes. Meanwhile,
he likens the brewing battle of Wegmans versus Publix
in the Southeast to “the ‘Thriller in Manila’ legendary
Ali-Frazier heavyweight title fight. While [Publix CEO]
Todd Jones and his team have more victories and
titles than coaches Nick Saban, Dabo Sweeney and
Bobby Bowden combined,” he enthuses, “Wegmans
may be the early favorite. … Wegmans has met and
beaten the best of the U.S., Canadian and European-owned competition. Publix has bested big, formidable food retail foes, too [but] Publix has benefited
from more big food retailers filing for bankruptcies.”
Louisiana-based Rouses has demonstrated “spectacular success” in the Gulf Coast region, which has had a record number of bankruptcies, Flickinger says. “The Rouse
family has uniquely won against all odds from hurricanes
Katrina and Rita back to back, and the corresponding loss
of approximately 50 percent of the population, which declined from a few energy exploration recessions as well,”
he continues. “Rouses’ private label work has connected
very well with consumers, building on the Rouse family’s
sensational regional and in-store merchandising.”
In sum, Flickinger says that Kroger/Harris Teeter,
Publix, Walmart, BJ’s, Wegmans, Sedano’s and Rouses
will expand their leadership positions in the Southeast
for the foreseeable future. On the flip side, he notes that
SEG and Whole Foods/Amazon “appear to be the most
vulnerable for sales and market share losses.”

The Midwest is “a very dynamic market,” Flickinger
asserts, “with vacuums created from the beginning of
this decade to now, with bankruptcies including Marsh
Supermarkets and Central Grocers Cooperative. With
Meijer filling the vacuum in northern Ohio from the exit of
Tops, and Giant Eagle moving back from Toledo, Meijer
and Kroger will be the big winners, with Walmart.”
According to Flickinger, independent grocers in the
region hold a position of strength. “The great Mayne
family at Dorothy Lane Markets, Buehler’s and SpartanNash-supplied retailers will be significant sales and
market share winners for the next five-plus years, along
with Standard Market, which is a gold standard for fine

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Grocery’s Competitive Landscape
food and wine retailing in Chicagoland,” he predicts.
He cautions, however, that while Heinen’s “has a great, highly
deserved, award-winning history in Ohio, from our observations of
its Illinois stores versus the top competitors, it appears to need to
catch up and bring more of the excellence from Cleveland metro
to the greater Chicago market.”
In Wisconsin, Minnesota and the Dakotas, Flickinger says,
“Woodman’s continues to lead the Midwest with great high-volume

Don’t Ignore the
Hard Discounters
While the promised disruption of the U.S. grocery landscape by
insurgent hard discounters Lidl, which opened its first stores in
this country two years ago, and Aldi, which has embarked on an
aggressive expansion plan, hasn’t quite come to pass, a new report from Boston-based management consulting firm Bain & Co.
cautions that mainstream grocers should remain on guard.
According to “How U.S. Grocers Are Standing Up to Europe’s
Hard Discounters,” the German retailers’ slow and steady gains
in the United States translate to a growing competitive threat for
their mainstream rivals.
The report finds that Lidl and Aldi have leveraged their
strong customer advocacy and ability to attract shoppers into
cross-shopping as a wedge to bolster their presence and popularity, noting that as many as 30 percent of shoppers at mass and
traditional grocery stores also routinely shop at Lidl and Aldi.
Indeed, Batavia, Ill.-based Aldi continues to lure American
consumers, Bain observes. The retailer’s consumer advocacy
rose to 55 percent last year from 46 percent in 2017, outperforming in the two most critical areas for shoppers: best everyday low
prices and best value for the money.
This has resulted in strong market performance and the
above-mentioned slow but steady gains. According to a study
this past summer, Aldi — No. 9 on Progressive Grocer ’s 2018
Super 50 list of the top grocers in the United States — racked
up a more than 3 percent share of grocery spending in six of
the eight markets studied, and experienced share gains in the
majority of those markets over the past two years.
Arlington, Va.-based Lidl likewise snared a 3 percent or more
share in five of the seven markets studied in summer 2018, gaining spending from traditional competitors.
“Lidl and Aldi are just beginning to flex their competitive
muscles,” explains Mikey Vu, a partner with Bain’s retail practice and a co-author of the new report. “What we’re seeing
is that U.S. grocers can effectively stand up to these hard
discounters, but that they need to remain vigilant and innovate
in strategic areas to keep their edge.”
A 2017 Bain report highlighted price as the most crucial factor
in competing with hard discounters and laid out five rules for
growing share:
Embrace your own private brands before your
shoppers move on to someone else’s
Lead with fresh
Become more convenient while your competitors
become less so
Transform your cost structure rather than just tweak it
Employ advanced analytics to unlock new
sources of value
While all five are still key, two have risen in significance, the company notes: investing in convenience, and using advanced analytics
or other new technologies to boost operational efficiencies.

Minneapolis-based Target “needs to invest more in fresh, staffing
and inventory and less in consulting firms,” Flickinger advises,
“which have appeared to have led retailers, from Kmart to A&P and
others, the wrong way, in my professional view.”
Among other nationals, he says, “While Whole Foods/Amazon
faces more challenges in the Midwest, Walmart’s best expansion
initiatives are in the Midwest and West. The dollar stores, most notably Dollar General, and chain drug stores, led by Walgreens and
CVS, are gaining the most in the Midwest and Western markets.”

Western Showdown

While Texas is a “shoulder market” between the West and the
Southeast, according to Flickinger, “H-E-B Chairman Charles
Butt is still the greatest living leader, student and teacher of retail.
Despite pronounced price wars ranging between Walmart Supercenters and Costco, H-E-B in food retail is better than any sports
team in any sport in North America.”
Continuing his application of sports metaphors to grocery, Flickinger says that “[Albertsons Chairman] Bob Miller is the next All-Pro
Hall of Fame winner for bringing Albertsons LLC to unprecedented
size and scale while rescuing most of Supervalu corporate retail,
with the addition of Jim Donald and other dynamic women and
men of the Albertsons-Safeway team.”
Hispanic- and Asian-American-owned and -operated chains
continue to generate the greatest growth, Flickinger contends,
“with unparalleled merchandising and marketing, and team leadership skills.” California-based grocers he singles out include El
Super, Superior, Northgate, Vallarta, Bristol Farms and Cardenas,
adding that “Hannam, HMart, Mitsuwa and other Asian-American
food retailers are power players for the foreseeable future, too.”
Additionally, Costco and WinCo Foods “are winning the most in
every market,” he says. “While Walmart is now Amazon’s emerging worst nightmare, WinCo and Costco have been the ongoing
competitive nightmare for all retailers, given the ongoing excellence
of WinCo and Costco with their exceptionally successful respective
expansion in existing and contiguous markets.”
Rounding out the West, Clark’s, in the Intermountain region; Harmons, in Utah; and URM, Metropolitan Markets and Red Apple, in
the Pacific Northwest, “are examples [of] outstanding independently owned and operated food retailers,” Flickinger asserts.

The Road Ahead

Flickinger describes Walmart as “the newest Roman Empire of retail,”
and observes that “Amazon appears to be slipping, as Jeff Bezos is
facing his Waterloo on many fronts, from Whole Foods and beyond.
“In the end,” he continues, “Main Street will continue to outsmart Wall Street, with the independents and family-owned/-operated and professionally led food businesses” working with food
science educators to “lead our food industry to record-breaking
success, health, and lower prices and higher profits, through
greater innovation and efficiency.”
For his part, Bishop envisions grocery retail becoming “more
clearly divided into three consumer-defined segments: premium,
mainstream and discount.”
The premium segment, he says, will mainly be driven by
Whole Foods and other Amazon grocery businesses, along with
a handful of highly differentiated food retailers like Wegmans,
Publix, H-E-B and Raley’s.

2018 Midwest Regional
Dwell Time Ranking
Regional
Rank

National
Rank

Grocer

(Minutes)

1

1

Marc's

35.27

2

6

Whole Foods Market

33.52

3

12

Fresh Thyme

32.06

4

23

Hy-Vee

30.19

5

29

Trader Joe's

29.72

6

33

Jewel-Osco

29.12

7

35

Pick 'n Save

28.76

8

36

Dillons Supermarkets

28.73

9

38

Kroger

28.39

10

40

Aldi

28.30

11

41

Save-A-Lot (Onex)

28.21

12

45

Fareway Stores

28.02

Midwest Average

30.02

Dwell Time

2018 South Regional
Dwell Time Ranking
Regional
Rank

National
Rank

Grocer

(Minutes)

1

4

The Fresh Market

33.84

2

6

Whole Foods Market

33.52

3

14

Lowes Foods

31.68

4

17

Rouses Markets

30.88

5

18

Food Giant

30.86

6

21

Giant Food

30.41

7

22

Harris Teeter

30.32

8

24

Sprouts Farmers Market

29.98

9

26

Fiesta Mart

29.82

10

29

Trader Joe's

29.72

11

31

H-E-B

29.51

12

32

Weis Markets

29.46

13

34

Bi-Lo

28.83

14

38

Kroger

28.39

15

39

La Michoacana Meat Market

28.32

16

40

Aldi

28.30

17

41

Save-A-Lot (Onex)

28.21

18

42

Food City

28.11

19

44

Tom Thumb Food & Pharmacy

28.04

20

46

Hannaford Supermarkets

27.92

South Average

29.90

Dwell Time

Source: InMarket

“The mainstream segment will be driven mainly by
the growth of Walmart and other high-volume grocery operators such as WinCo,” Bishop adds. “The
discount segment will be driven mainly by Aldi, Lidl
and Trader Joe’s.”
PROGRESSIVE GROCER March 2019

he shopper standing in front of the grocer’s
freezer may look alone, but he or she has
some company in the purchase decision: The
grocer and manufacturer that have worked
together to provide a product that meets their
shared interest and need at the point of sale.
Behind every purchase, of course, there’s
a lot of effort that goes into the product and
the selling of that item. In the frozen food
category, energized by a new dynamic in
recent years (see sidebar on page 46), the
supplier-retailer relationship is pivotal in
lifting sales and, on a broader level, improving perceptions of frozen foods.

A Single Vision

“We have to have the same vision,” asserts Ryan Powell, VP of merchandising and category management for Dallas-based Symphony RetailAI,
a provider of artificial intelligence-enabled solutions. “It’s about bringing
retailers and manufacturers together to be able to understand what we
should be offering shoppers.”
Likewise, industry consultant — and former frozen department manager
— Daniel Lohman says that the collaborative mindset, while new to some in
the industry, is effective. “Traditionally, a brand comes in and says, ‘Would
you buy my products?’ and the retailer spends time promoting that product
with the brand’s help,” notes Lohman, organic and CPG strategic advisor
with Brand Secrets and Strategies, in Littleton, Colo. “But true collaboration
isn’t always there, in my opinion.”
He offers a suggestion: “If brands focus on unique customers to bring them
to the store, that helps retailers. Because grocers can’t be the experts in everything they sell, they can leverage the strengths of the brands to drive sales.”
Collaboration sounds good, but how does that work on the ground at
the store level? Powell points to the emergence of enabling technologies.
“We’ve already started to leverage content in technology, providing platforms with real-time interactions that allow a manufacturer to sit side by side
with a retailer to execute a plan together,” he says. “You can dialogue, make
a change and view a result. The power of that is significant, we feel, from a
business standpoint, because retailers and manufacturers are figuring out
how to start reaching their goals with one seamless vision. They can get
there by partnering together to fill in gaps.”
The frozen category requires such partnerships and technologies, given
the fact that frozen foods pose some challenges, adds Powell. “Frozen is
more complex — how do you drive people to the frozen aisle?” he observes. “So, the strategic, connected planning between a retailer and
manufacturer is important in frozen.”

42

progressivegrocer.com

Key Takeaways
In the frozen food category, the
supplier-retailer relationship is
key to driving sales as well as
boosting product perceptions.
Large and small manufacturers
alike are rolling out innovations
to lure more consumers down the
frozen aisle.
Emerging technologies like
artificial intelligence to aid
assortment, along with tried-andtrue marketing and merchandising
approaches, can also be effective
in growing frozen food sales.

FROZEN & REFRIGERATED FOODS

Sales Strategies

What Shoppers Want

Figuring out what draws consumers to the frozen aisle has
been a focus of manufacturers,
retailers and industry organizations in recent years. A new
report, “The Power of Frozen,”
presented by the American
Frozen Food Institute (AFFI)
and the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), includes consumers’
feedback on what they would
like to see in the frozen food section.
Based on shopper responses, the most notable areas are
organizational improvements; a greater variety of brands and
product types, including frozen foods from smaller and niche
brands; and better prices and promotions. More specifically,
survey respondents said they would like visible signs categorizing frozen foods within doors and parts of the freezer case,
along with better lighting and access to freezers.
Product innovation has been one component of revitalizing
the frozen food category, and that’s a result of the efforts of
manufacturers that create unique products, and of grocers that

agree to carry those items.
“There’s a plethora of new offerings in the frozen
food aisle — ethnic flavors, organic, vegetarian,
and unique fruit and vegetable varieties,” remarks
Adrienne Seiling, executive director of Arlington, Va.based AFFI. “I think there’s an opportunity for retailers, in partnership with the frozen food and beverage
industry, to think about dynamic new retail strategies
featuring these exciting, innovative food options as a
method to drive people down the frozen food aisle.”

frozen meals aisle, and Benihana has high brand awareness with
younger, more affluent consumers,” notes Lynn Galia, head of
communications for the Chicago-based company.
Kraft Heinz is reaching out to another demographic through
its line of Indulgence nutritional single-serve frozen meals.
“This conflicted Gen X consumer struggles to find a frozen
meal that satisfies her from a taste standpoint as well as health
standpoint. She feels overly guilty when eating a traditional fro-

Innovation in the Aisles

To Seiling’s point, many brands are adding new items
to their product lines or creating new lines to provide
solutions for consumers. That includes major, long-established frozen food companies as well as smaller
and niche brands just getting into the category.
The Kraft Heinz Co., for instance, recently added
a new brand presence to the grocer’s freezer with
branded Benihana frozen Japanese meals. “Consumers are seeking authenticity and variety in the

There’s an opportunity for
retailers, in partnership with the frozen
food and beverage industry, to think
about dynamic new retail strategies
featuring these exciting, innovative
food options as a method to drive people
down the frozen food aisle.”
—Adrienne Seiling, American Frozen Food Institute

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zen mac and cheese or pot pie, but yet doesn’t enjoy the flavor
of the traditional diet-focused brands with their lower-fat, lean
recipes,” explains Galia, adding that the Indulgence line is designed for those conscious of calories and interested in flavor.
Many new products are coming from specialty and smaller
brands. One example is Lundberg Family Farms, based in
Richvale, Calif., which entered the frozen category in mid2017 with Organic Grainspirations Arancini, and added new
Frozen Rice & Quinoa Bowls last fall.
According to Todd Kluger, Lundberg’s VP of marketing,
the impetus was providing true solutions to consumers in the
frozen space. “In recent years, cleaner labels and high-quality
ingredients have turned an increasing number of grocery store
carts down the frozen aisle,” Kluger observes.
In addition to offering a greater variety of products from
more and different brands, the importance of cross-merchandising and the idea of moving frozen into other areas of the
store, and other shelf-stable or fresh products into areas near
frozen, are also underscored in consumer recommendations
shared in “The Power of Frozen” report. Shoppers like the idea
of displaying items that complement frozen meals in end caps,
like parmesan cheese for lasagna, or ice cream cones for ice
cream, for example.

Tech Solutions

Frozen Landscape
Frozen is hot: Both dollar and unit sales of frozen foods
increased in 2018, up 2.6 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively, according to “The Power of Frozen” report
from The American Frozen Food Institute and the Food
Marketing Institute, both based in Arlington, Va.
Further, new research published by Northbrook, Ill.based MarketsandMarkets finds that frozen food was
a $219.9 billion market in in 2018, and is estimated to
reach $282.5 billion by 2023. According to “The Power
of Frozen,” a whopping 99.4 percent of households
buy frozen foods.
And the future looks set, based on interest among
younger consumers: A report from Rockville, Md.based Packaged Facts shows that households headed
by adults under age 25 are 26 percent more likely to
eat frozen breakfast entrées and 23 percent more likely to eat frozen entrées.
—Lynn Petrak

$219.9 Billion
Sales of frozen foods in 2018
Source: “The Power of Frozen”

46

progressivegrocer.com

“Because merchandising is important in consumers’
minds when it comes to frozen, manufacturers and
grocers working together can use technologies to
look at the macro picture, in addition to providing
consumers with solutions and information that
meet their micro needs,” notes Symphony RetailAI’s
Powell. “The vision of connected category management is changing. Five years ago, it was connecting
different capabilities — ‘How do you connect assortment and merchandising?’ Now it’s, ‘How can
we connect the entire ecosystem?’” That includes
other aspects like lighting, fixtures, and promotions
spanning signage to social media.
Again, technology can help retailers and frozen food
companies connect the ecosystem dots. Powell points
out that Symphony RetailAI has been developing artificial intelligence for that purpose over the past couple
of years. “In assortment, one of the major things we’re
working on allows you to monitor mass quantities of
data and identify changes within data sets and the environment. It alerts the retailer and manufacturer when
a change needs to be made, and gives them data for
that change,” he explains. Changes can involve the
demand for gluten-free frozen foods or other product-related innovations.
Emerging technologies like AI also provide an ROI
benefits timeline to see the impact of changes that
have been made, adds Powell. “It’s a dynamic planning process driven by benefits to the customer and
ROI, versus just capacity,” he notes.

Consumer Connections

While technology contributes some changes to
solution management in frozen, grocers and manufacturers can run a parallel track by literally reaching
out to shoppers. “The Power of Frozen” included
comments from readers asking for more product
sampling and demos.
Connecting with consumers that way
is important, especially for products with
which shoppers may not be familiar. One
example is Phoenix-based Spinato’s, a
brand fairly new to the retail frozen food
category. After making pizza for 40 years
at its own pizzeria, the company now
offers frozen pizza with a broccoli crust,
along with a gluten-free variety, at retail.
“After creating a compelling product,
it’s all about creating promotional opportunities for the retailer to help accelerate
the product,” says Anthony Spinato,
president and co-founder. “Participating in promotional events that retailers
hold dear is important, even if it may be
unprofitable at the time, because, in the
end, you are driving more interest, and
shoppers will come back for more.”
Additionally, Lohman underscores the
fact that brick-and-mortar stores, including
those offering click-and-collect services,
can set themselves apart from pure-play
ecommerce competitors because of their
frozen offerings and the quality of those
offerings. “People are reluctant to buy
frozen products and have them delivered,”
he notes. “The fact that traditional stores
have refrigerated and frozen products is
a primary point of differentiation, and if a
retailer can leverage that, it’s how they can
compete against online [sales]. Manufacturers would want in on that, too, as a way
to convey consumer access to appealing
frozen products.”

Lohman also recommends that grocers keep tabs on emerging
food and drink items, with an eye toward carrying, merchandising
and sampling them, and be open to new frozen food and beverage
partners. “[Retailers] have to think about other trends in the store, like
plant-based,” he advises. “Those trends are driving customers into
their stores, and that’s the next thing they need to pay attention to.”

After creating a
compelling product, it’s all
about creating promotional
opportunities for the
retailer to help accelerate
the product.”
—Anthony Spinato, Spinato’s
PROGRESSIVE GROCER March 2019

are
ew flavors and functional benefits
t,
boos
big
a
gory
cate
r
giving the wate
opening the floodgates on sales for
grocery retailers.
Dollar sales for the category as a
the
whole surged nearly 8 percent for
,
52-week period ended Dec. 30, 2018
from
data
nnel
icha
mult
according to
Chicago-based IRI.
“Flavored bottled water has seen
that
the introduction of new flavorings
rage
beve
r
othe
to
ated
were once releg
sito,
categories,” says Alexander Espo
market research firm Euromonresearch analyst at London-based
particular have proved popular
in
rs
flavo
ical
itor International. “Trop
juice and soda categories. These
in bringing in consumers from the
rs to flavored waters.”
ume
cons
new
have helped to attract
functional products are putAccording to Esposito, flavored and
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“The
.
gory
cate
ting profit back into the
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and
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has become increasingly fragmente
of both the name brands
lf
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on
ity
activ
al
high level of promotion
s for flavored and
price
t
s. “Uni
and private label brands,” he note
still water, often
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than
er
high
tly
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sign
functional waters are
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on
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ndin
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MAKING WAVES IN THE CENT
PREMIUM WATER IS IN HIGH DEMAND WITH CONSUMERS.
RETAILERS CAN BENEFIT FROM THIS BY OFFERING A STRONGER
AND MORE BALANCED PRODUCT MIX.
NEIL KIMBERLEY | Chief Strategy Officer

THE WATER MARKET HAS SEEN
RAPID CHANGES IN RECENT YEARS.
WHAT MARKET DRIVERS ARE
BEHIND THE CHANGE? HOW HAS
THE CATEGORY EVOLVED?
NK: In 2016, bottled water surpassed
carbonated soft drinks to become
the fastest-growing category in

beverage in the U.S. A year later,
it grew by almost 13% to $2.4B
at retail. This shift is attributed to
the widespread concern for sugary
beverages and consumers opting
for bottled water as a healthier
option. Brands are tapping into
this evolution by offering bottled

water with functional benefits and
differentiation factors â&#x20AC;&#x201D; influencing
and shaping the premium bottled
water category.
HOW VERSED ARE RETAILERS
IN THE CURRENT WATER SPACE?
WHAT ARE SOME COMMON

PREMIUM
WATER —

ADVERTORIAL

IDEAL ASSORTMENT

33%
SOURCE WATER
is water in its natural
state from a spring or
other natural source
prior to any treatment
for drinking. It naturally
contains minerals.

33%

ALKALINE/
IONIZED
WATER

ER STORE
MISCONCEPTIONS?
NK: There is certainly an opportunity
for more education on the premium
water space. For many years,
the bottled water category was
dominated by value brands
delivering low-priced hydration, so it
wasn’t uncommon to hear retailers
say that “people just want to buy
cheap water” or “premium water
won’t be successful in my store.” In
today’s landscape, that is no longer
the case. Retailers should make
space for premium water not only for
the higher profit margins but for the
engaged consumers purchasing it.

is purified or
source water
that has a
higher pH
either from
ionization/
electrolysis and/
or added natural
alkaline minerals.

33%
ENHANCED
WATER

is purified or source water
that promotes added
functionality or benefits.
Electrolyzed/restructured
water which contains
added ingredients, such
as minerals, electrolytes,
vitamins and/or flavors.
Enhanced waters can also
be alkaline water.

WITH PRODUCT SELECTION
AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH, WHAT
SHOULD A RETAILER LOOK FOR
WHEN CREATING A BALANCED
ASSORTMENT?
NK: We know that premium water
is in high demand with consumers,
so it’s imperative that retailers
curate their shelf with the right
balance of premium water. An
ideal assortment for premium
water is 33% Source Water, 33%
Alkaline/Ionized Water, and 33%
Enhanced Water. By offering
premium products like Essentia
Water, an ionized alkaline water,
retailers can make higher margins
when providing the right space and
pricing to 1L, 1.5L, and 1L 6packs.
The most successful retailers are
focused on the brands that can
deliver growth while maintaining
high levels of revenue and
profitability.
THE CENTER STORE
HAS ALWAYS BEEN
A CHALLENGE.
HOW CAN WATER
HELP DRIVE
GROWTH THERE?
NK: Last year the
bottled water
category added
over $1 billion in
sales — the overall largest
contributor to center store growth.
Retailers should make sure the
right premium bottled water
brands are available in locations
for immediate consumption and
impulse purchases, such as the
deli, bakery, produce, pharmacy
and checkout.
WHAT’S THE NEXT TREND IN
WATER TO LOOK FOR?
NK: Premium water will continue
to be a key driver within the
beverage industry. I predict
we’ll see brands exploring
enhanced water like antioxidants
or hydrogen-infused.

GROCERY

Water

“Functional waters are one of the biggest contributors to category growth in the water aisle,” affirms
Rita Konrad, chief sales officer at Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Formula Four Beverages, maker of Oxigen
water. “Consumers are looking for healthier/goodfor-you products in all their shopping purchases, and
when it comes to water, they want waters that deliver
more than just hydration.”
“Consumers are becoming more intrigued with
premium still water, and alkaline waters are part of
that,” observes Neil Kimberly, chief strategy officer at
Bothell, Wash.-based Essentia Water.
Kimberly notes that growth of alkaline waters is outpacing overall category growth. “Premium water grew
around 13 percent in 2018, but high-pH waters, which
represent about 15 percent of the category, were up
36 percent,” he says, adding that he expects to see
more upside for the category in 2019.
“Premium water and alkaline water are some of the
most exciting areas of beverages,” Kimberly asserts.
“Consumers are exploring the space and discovering
great new brands.”

Flavored bottled water
has seen the introduction of new
flavorings that were once relegated
to other beverage categories.
Tropical flavors in particular
have proved popular in bringing
in consumers from the juice
and soda categories.”
—Alexander Esposito, Euromonitor International
IRI data shows that Essentia dollar sales increased 72 percent for the period cited and Life Wtr
dollar sales surged 64 percent. Even established
brands are getting more play in supermarket aisles:
Quincy, Mass.-based Stop & Shop, an Ahold Delhaize USA banner, recently featured Smartwater on
a three-for-$5 promotion in floorstands in the water
aisle and near the meat department.
“We see a big opportunity in creating consistent
merchandising sets that put the right brands in the
right spaces with cross-merchandising opportunities,”
Kimberly says. “There’s a lot of interest in getting water
into delis, salad bars and produce areas. We do a lot
of work building engaging retail displays and adding
unique giveaway items for store excitement. Since the
premium water segment is regularly promoted, we try
to use promotions to drive trial.”

Manufacturers are also creating compelling
cross-promotions.
Among them, Fiji Waters’ Crack, Sip, Repeat
promotion pairs Fiji Water with Wonderful Pistachios.
“Prominently displaying better-for-you snack options
with healthy beverages like Fiji Water can help drive
purchase,” notes Clarence Chia, VP of marketing and
ecommerce for Los Angeles-based Fiji Water, adding
that the brand “is also providing retailers with eye-catching displays to drive awareness during those key time
periods. We’re helping retailers to create a variety of POS
options that fit needs of retailers of all sizes.”
According to Konrad, the Oxigen brand partners
with accounts on themed promotions such as wellness or healthy-living displays, cross-merchandising
with other healthy/good-for-you products, as in the
case of health bars and water. “This allows us to do
sampling in-store, as well as case stack displays or
checkstand displays, especially around significant
events,” she explains. The brand recently launched a
1-liter size to complement its 20-ounce bottles.
Retailers are devoting significant space to customized
water displays. Malvern, Pa.-based Acme, an Albertsons
banner, features a three-sided custom end cap devoted
to Polar Beverages’ Polar branded water at one end of its
beverage aisle. The chain also features Polar water in a
large display in the produce aisle and a number of premium water brands on displays throughout the store.
Acme also recently displayed branded Voss water
on a fixture near snacks and a stacked display of S.
Pellegrino across from the deli. Meanwhile, the grocer
locates organic water brands — Hint flavored waters,
Mountain Valley sparkling water, Avitae caffeine water
and Sanavi organic flavored sparkling spring water — in
its organic and natural section, adjacent to produce.
In a different approach, a New York metro-area
ShopRite, part of Keasbey, N.J.-based Wakefern Food
Corp., a retailer cooperative whose members operate
ShopRite stores across the Northeast, merchandises all
water brands in one large water aisle, which can run up
to 100 feet. The store has added a number of functional
brands to its department, including Alkazone antioxidant
alkaline water; Gloe plant-infused sparkling water in turmeric and ginger flavors; Neuro Water’s Sweet Dreams,
Reduce Stress and Energy Refresher formulas; and
Propel and Body Armor electrolyte waters.
“In many accounts, Hy-Vee for example, we have
dual placement in the water aisle alongside other
premium functional waters, in the health market, and
then with additional displays throughout the stores
and in cold sets and coolers, both at checkstands
and throughout the stores,” Formula Four’s Konrad
says. “Our shots are usually found at the check
registers, but also merchandised in the HBC sections
where you find health bars and supplements.”

Sparkle Plenty

Retailers are giving more space in particular to sparkling water,
a key growth area, with dollar sales up nearly 16 percent,
according to IRI data.
For instance, La Crosse, Wis.-based La Croix is nearly neck-andneck with private label flavored sparkling water, each with a dollar
share of around 20 percent. Data from Chicago-based Nielsen shows
that canned sparkling water in particular has emerged as a huge contributor to category performance, with more than 30 percent of new
products in the water segment last year packaged in cans.
While bottled sparkling water commands 64 percent of all
sparkling-water dollar sales, according to Nielsen, canned sparkling-water dollar sales were up 43 percent from the previous
year to reach sales of more than $803 million. Branded players
in that space saw significant growth, with La Croix’s dollar sales
up 25 percent and Newton, Mass.-based Spindrift seeing a
triple-digit dollar sale increase, according to IRI data.
Other brands are clamoring for a piece of the action. A
recent study by Euromonitor shows that in 2018, 71 percent of
new items to the water category were sparkling waters. Last
year, Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo introduced Bubly flavored
seltzer in cans; Stamford, Conn.-based Nestlé Waters North

Retailers are creating impactful displays throughout the store to
maximize sales of both still and sparkling waters.

America introduced sparkling versions of its six regional spring
water brands — including Poland Spring — in PET bottles and
cans; and Atlanta-based Coca-Cola acquired Topo Chico,
sparkling mineral water sourced in Mexico and packaged in
glass and PET bottles.
Retailers are giving sparkling water plenty of play in stores,
too. Acme recently featured La Croix multipacks at one end of
its beverage aisle and devoted floor displays to no less than five
brands — Refresher, Vintage, Soleil, Bubly and its own Signature brand — of canned sparkling water or seltzer in the section.
For its part, Stop & Shop recently featured Bubly 12-packs on
an end cap display and stacked out Poland Spring’s still and
sparkling water at the end of its water aisles.
PROGRESSIVE GROCER March 2019

53

FRESH FOOD

2019 Retail Seafood Review

54

progressivegrocer.com

Go Fish
GROCERS SEE ONGOING POTENTIAL
IN HE ALTHY AND SUSTAINABLE OPTIONS
WHILE PL AYING DOWN ANY THRE AT FROM
PL ANT-BASED ALTERNATIVES.
By Bridget Goldschmidt

Key Takeaways
As seafood consumption
rises, retailers are
expressing confidence in the
category’s future.
Grocers and marketers cite
health, convenience, greater
willingness of consumers to
experiment with unfamiliar
species, and concerns about
sustainability as drivers of
higher fresh seafood sales.
A majority of retailers
carry plant-based seafood
alternatives or would consider
doing so, and most would be
amenable to merchandising
them alongside traditional
seafood products, indicating
that most grocers don’t view
plant-based options as a
threat to seafood sales, but
rather as a way to bring new
consumers, such as vegans
and vegetarians, to the
department.

s consumers increasingly
turn to seafood as a source
of lean protein — U.S. per
capita consumption for 2017
grew to 16 pounds from 14.9
pounds in 2016 to reach the
highest per capita consumption in almost a decade, according to National Fisheries
Institute data released in late
2018 — food retailers are
feeling confident about the
category’s future, Progressive
Grocer’s state-of-the industry Retail Seafood Review has found.
With service seafood departments present in 58 percent of
respondents’ stores, comprising 6 percent of total store sales,
70 percent of retailers responding to PG’s annual survey reported that department sales had increased from the prior year,
while 30 percent said that they had remained the same. No one
reported a sales decrease over the past 12 months. On average,
sales rose from the prior year by 9 percent.
Similarly, when asked about their fresh seafood sales expectations for the coming year, 70 percent said that they expected sales
to increase, and 30 percent predicted sales would be flat, with
no respondents anticipating a sales decline. On average, retailers
expected sales to rise by 6 percent.

Reasons to be Cheerful

These results mirror the optimistic assessments of industry
players contacted by PG. “Seafood … is poised for continued
increase in usage,” affirms Megan Rider, domestic marketing
manager at the Juneau-based Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute
(ASMI), which provides a variety of merchandising tools for retailers, as well as working with retail partners on custom promotions
to help drive seafood trial and purchase through cross-merchandising, in-store demos, signage and digital coupon programs,
A key cause of this expected growth, Rider believes, is seafood’s healthy halo. “As consumers are becoming more aware
of how food can have a positive impact on health, species like
Alaska salmon provide an excellent source of long-chain omega-3s found only in marine sources, which help support many
functions in the body,” she notes.

PROGRESSIVE GROCER March 2019

55

FRESH FOOD

2019 Retail Seafood Review

The availability of a greater range
of convenient options is another big
sales driver, which, to a certain extent,
intersects with consumers’ health concerns. Having observed “a shift toward
value-added and convenience items,”
Steve Disko, seafood category manager
at St. Louis-based Schnuck Markets,
notes, “Consumers unfamiliar with
cooking seafood, but aware of the health
benefits, are looking for solutions.”
For instance, Schnucks “kicked off
a company-wide promotion at the first
of the year focused on healthy eating,”
says Disko. “Seafood plays a big part in
that. Ready-to-go steamer bags are a
quick, healthy source of protein.”
For his part, Richard Castle, director
of seafood at Pittsburgh-based Giant
Eagle, attributes category gains to
consumers’ greater enthusiasm for trying
new things, particularly when it’s made
easier for them to do so and they receive
the proper guidance.
“We are seeing a growing number of
customers are more willing to step outside
of the usual salmon, tilapia and cod purchase,” notes Castle. “Value-added items
such as salmon burgers, skewers, stuffed
and marinated are growing. We have seen
success in promoting a fresh catch of the
week — bring it in on Friday and sell it out
by Sunday — [with] monk fish, cobia and
fresh swordfish. Oysters are growing in
popularity also.”
With regard to the sales of these items,
he admits: “I often find that something I
thought would never sell actually surprises
me, but we find the growth is largely due
to having knowledgeable and passionate
team members engaging with the customers and explaining selection, preparation,
and cooking and serving tips.”

Progressive Grocer ’s Retail Seafood Review survey was fielded online by
EIQ Research Solutions in October and November 2018 to supermarket
retailers involved in the meat/seafood category. A total of 52 responses
are included in these results, split between operators of fewer than 75
stores, and 75 or more stores. By title, 40 percent are category managers,
merchandisers or buyers; 27 percent are from the c-suite; and 4 percent
are store managers, with the remainder serving in various capacities,
including marketing, consulting and analysis. Among the respondents,
seafood represents about 6 percent of their total sales.
progressivegrocer.com

5 0.0%

4.7%

Net change

Methodology

56

YE AR AGO

CURRENT

“Sustainability is equally about communities
as it is about environment. Industry leaders are
proving, what’s good for the environment is also
good for people and for business.”
- Barton Seaver

We proudly participate in supporting all efforts towards the
sustainability of our oceans and communities. By sourcing seafood
responsibly, and practicing safe ways to feed our population,
we continuously strive to create a growing demand for seafood.
We proudly provide the retail, food service, culinary and hospitality
industries with the best choices for getting seafood on the plate.
Explore our products and services today.

Find us at Seafood Expo
North America–Booth #1721

Importer, manufacturer and distributor of quality frozen
seafood products from the USA and around the world.

Effectiveness of Promotional Activities
Rated on a scale of 1-6, where 6 = extremely effective
Current

Year Ago

BOGOs

4.64

3.97

Temporary Price Reductions

4.50

4.28

Social Media

4.22

3.67

Product Demos/Sampling Events

4.17

4.18

Flash Sales

4.16

3.36

Point-of-Purchase Information

4.12

4.08

Online Marketing

4.00

3.74

Cross-Promotion Within the Store

3.94

3.87

Mix-and-Match Bundles (i.e., four for $20)

3.91

3.08

Direct Mail

3.57

3.28

Source: Progressive Grocer market research, 2019

“The most important aspect of our seafood marketing is our
teammates,” agrees Disko. “The vast majority of seafood is sold
out of our seafood showcases. Having knowledgeable seafood
captains assist our customers with their meal plans and able to
answer any of their questions is key.”
Noting his company’s partnership with ASMI, Castle says: “We
create signs and ads utilizing the Alaska logo. We direct customers
to the ASMI website for recipes, and we typically run a sales con-

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progressivegrocer.com

test for our seafood team leaders. This year is a trip to
Alaska. We will be taking the top eight stores.”
Other successful promotional approaches include
“seafood ‘road shows’ where we blast a store with buys
[and] media,” according to a respondent to PG’s survey.
As Castle puts it: “The best marketing is a combination of telling the story of source, freshness and
quality. The best merchandising is getting the focus
product in a highly visible location and drawing
attention to it.”

Sustainability’s Staying Power

In what by now will seem a familiar breakdown of
results, 70 percent of respondents reported having a
sustainable seafood program in place, a testament to
its importance at retail as a point of differentiation. In
fact, 100 percent of respondents with such a program
said that they promoted it as such.
As for consumer demand for sustainable seafood,
57 percent reported that it had increased, while 39
percent said that it had remained the same and only
4 percent noted a decrease in demand. Adding to
sustainable seafood’s appeal for retail is the fact that
consumers are willing to pay more for seafood labeled
as sustainable, as affirmed by a 2018 paper authored
by researchers at NOAA Fisheries Southwest Fisheries
Science Center and Mississippi State University.
Indeed, retailers are still singing the praises of
sustainable seafood. “Our Alaska programs are … successful because of the quality and sustainable image
Alaska is known for,” notes Giant Eagle’s Castle.
Schnucks’ Disko points out, however, that to ensure
the supply of sustainable seafood, there will have to be
“more of a shift toward farmed seafood.”
He explains: “To have sustainably managed fisheries,
you have to limit what is taken out of them to have a
stable biomass. The wild fisheries can’t keep up with
growing populations. On top of that, there are things
like ocean acidification and rising sea temperatures

FRESH FOOD

2019 Retail Seafood Review

affecting the biomass. Think about it: We aren’t eating
wild chickens, hogs and cattle anymore. We have to get
better at farm-raised seafood, and fast.”

Do you have a sustainable seafood
program in place at your store(s)?

Plant Power

The greater seafood category hasn’t been immune to
the incursions of plant-based alternatives across the
store, with such examples as Ocean Hugger Foods’
tomato-based Ahimi being added to the foodservice
sushi offerings of Whole Foods Market, and the availability of shelf-stable and frozen fish-free products
from Good Catch and Loma Linda.
Among those polled by PG, 30 percent said that they
currently carried plant-based alternatives to seafood and
39 percent noted that they didn’t but would consider it,
while 30 percent responded that they didn’t carry such
products and had no interest in doing so. When asked
whether they would consider merchandising plant-based
seafood alternatives alongside traditional items in the
seafood section, a whopping 81 percent said they were
open to such placement, perhaps viewing it as a way to
bring new consumers, such as vegans and vegetarians,
into the department, while 19 percent weren’t interested
in placing the different proteins side by side.
ASMI’s Rider and Disko, of Schnucks, don’t seem
too concerned about any perceived threat to traditional seafood sales from plant-based options, and
neither displays much interest in its sales potential
within the fresh seafood department.
“While there may be a place for plant-based seafood
for vegans, most consumers that are cutting back on
meat consumption are not eliminating animal proteins
from their diets,” contends Rider. “Consumers are primarily focused on cutting back on red meat, mainly due
to health reasons, but also for the good of the planet.
When it comes to wild-capture seafood like the species
in Alaska, we have a very low environmental footprint.”

3 0%
No

100%

30%

Has consumer demand increased, decreased or
stayed the same for sustainable seafood products
in the past year?

Source: Progressive Grocer market research, 2019

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progressivegrocer.com

Increased

4%

Stayed the same

57%

Decreased

39%

Source: Progressive Grocer market research, 2019

Yes, we currently
carry them
We do not
currently carry
them, but we
would consider it

39%

Yes

Source: Progressive Grocer market research, 2019

Are you currently or would you consider carrying
plant-based alternatives to seafood products?

30%

70%
Yes

Do you
promote the
sustainable
seafood
program as
a point of
differentiation?

We do not
currently carry
them and have
no interest in
doing so

Are you currently or would you
consider merchandising plant-based
alternatives alongside seafood in the
seafood section of your store(s)?

To make the most of your seafood offerings, the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute
offers training resources, POS, shopper trend data, and more.
alaskaseafood.org

#AskForAlaska

FRESH FOOD

2019 Retail Seafood Review

Disko is more succinct in his reply, acknowledging
the growth in plant-based proteins, but noting that “it’s still a relatively small segment.”
Regarding other industry challenges,
when asked to identify one thing they would
like to see from their suppliers to make their
seafood departments more effective, one

respondent replied that most appreciated would be a
“complete line on pedigree … because so many foreign
sources are cheaters.” Another issue brought up by
respondents was “better pricing.”
Even with such headaches, however, retailers have
every expectation of smooth sailing in the fresh seafood
category this year.

Seeing Seafood Sales
Looking at seafood dollar sales for the year ended Dec. 29, 2018, it’s
immediately apparent that tilapia, formerly quite a trendy species,
experienced another dramatic drop in sales, on top of dollar sales
decreases of 10.6 percent and 10.1 percent in 2017 and 2016, respectively. As Nielsen notes, “Tilapia has been declining significantly for years now, as it has lost popularity with consumers.”
Meanwhile, snapper, crawfish/crayfish, pollock, scallops, trout and
mahi mahi saw considerable dollar sales increases. Nielsen says
that snapper experienced an increase in promotions alongside
a 7 percent drop in price, while pollock similarly saw more promotions and a moderate price decline. On the other hand, mahi
mahi’s dollar sales soared thanks to a hefty 12 percent price

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increase. For its part, crawfish/crayfish benefited from a rise in both
promotions and price, with Nielsen further observing, “We have also
seen [an] increase in more Creole/Cajun influences.” As for scallops,
Nielsen says that their sales “seem to just be driven by consumer
interest/availability, as promotion and pricing stayed the same.”
On the highest end of pricing, the typically expensive options of
lobster and caviar both lost dollar sales, but for different reasons.
“Lobster average price rose nearly 4 percent,
leading to a decline in pounds of 7 percent,” Nielsen notes. “Caviar prices
dropped 11 percent,” but sales
didn’t rise as a result, perhaps
due to its status as a prohibitively costly luxury item.

FRESH FOOD

Packaging

Great
Expectations
PERIME TER PACK AGING MUST ALIGN WITH
CONSUMER DESIRES, WHICH INCLUDE PERSONAL
AND ENVIRONMENTAL HE ALTH, ALONG WITH
CONVENIENCE AND LITER AL TR ANSPARENCY.

American packaging at Memphis, Tenn.based Evergreen Packaging, which creates
fiber-based packaging solutions, making
and supplying paper and paperboard
products globally, and is the No. 1 supplier
of liquid packaging board in the world. The
company’s “2018 EcoFocus Trend Study”
of grocery shoppers found that consumers
have greater expectations of packaging
than ever before, especially for healthy
foods and beverages.

By D. Gail Fleenor
lean food, transparency and recyclability are
all buzzwords for today’s consumers. They
want the best food for their families and themselves, and notice more about supermarket
perimeter purchases than ever before. A box
for fresh food is no longer just a container for
doughnuts or peppers or chicken pot pie.
Packaging must meet certain criteria for
most shoppers, and they will switch stores to
purchase what they want.
“More shoppers today want packaging that
works harder for their health and the health of
the environment,” affirms DeWitt Clark, VP of sales and marketing for North

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Key Takeaways
Consumers’ concerns about
their own and the planet’s health,
as well as convenience and
the ability to see items in their
containers, are major trends in
perimeter packaging.
Retailers are increasingly offering
the packaging solutions that their
customers are requesting.
Suppliers are stepping up to the
plate with innovations to meet
shopper and retailer needs.

FRESH FOOD

Packaging

Trends from the study indicated a need for food and
beverage companies to view packaging as an extension of the ingredient list. Shoppers are looking at the
total package, and packaging is becoming as important
as what’s inside. Following are a few quick findings:
71 percent of grocery shoppers strongly agree
or agree that “foods and beverages with healthier
ingredient lists should use packaging materials that
are healthier, too.”
68 percent say that it’s extremely or very important “to choose foods or beverages that are packaged responsibly.”
51 percent of shoppers strongly agree or agree
that “I have changed what I buy due to the type or
amount of packaging.”
In a similar vein, the Bellevue, Wash.-based Hartman Group’s “Sustainability 2017” research found
that Millennials show a preference for reusable and
nonexistent packaging, with women more likely than
men to scrutinize packaging materials. Women and
Millennials are two shopper groups that are critical to
success in the perimeter.

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Meals and snacks
in multiple
compartments
within a single
clear, recyclable
container from
Placon.

Packaging for Customer Convenience

Convenience continues to be an issue in virtually all
supermarket departments. Customers are time-crunched,
so they stop by the supermarket for a quick snack or meal.
Shoppers don’t want packaging that leaks, or doesn’t keep
hot foods hot or cold foods cold. Packages with multiple
separate items must be designed to keep those items
separate, or customers won’t purchase the item again.
Ready-to-eat packaging means that those seeking a quick
meal should be able to open it up and chow down.
Convenience can also refer to the shopping experience. “Packaged product can be very convenient,
such as a bagged salad kit versus buying all the
items separately,” notes Bridget Winkelman, farmer’s
market and floral manager for St. Cloud, Minn.-based
Coborn’s Inc. “We are seeing growth in packaged
items such as packaged tomatoes and salad kits, as
opposed to traditional salad blends.”
Says Anna Brown, produce merchandising specialist
at Salisbury, N.C.-based Food Lion: “Our customers are
pushing us for more convenience and ease with their
buying options.” Brown observes that for a wide variety
of items, packaged and convenience options are driving
sales: “A customer may come in to buy four bulk apples,
but enjoys the ease of purchasing an apple pouch and
leaves the store with 2 pounds of apples instead.”

Winkelman also likes apple pouches, but has a different view.
“Apples in pouches can be almost half the size of bulk apples,” she
points out. “The smaller apples still taste the same, but do not display as nicely [as] when they are bulk. The bulk will cost more per
pound and per apple, but when you purchase a bag, you will have
a larger total dollar ring at the register.”
Meanwhile, heat-and-eat items are a component of customer convenience around the perimeter and must have the correct packaging
for this use. “For prepared food, it’s got to be a microwaveable or
oven-ready container,” asserts Terry Esteve, produce director for
New Orleans-based Robért Fresh Market. “There’s packaging out
there now that can go either way. That’s what we use for all of the
heat-and-eat prepared foods at our stores.”
Packaging manufacturers are catering to this customer need.
“Convenience and safety continue to be the growing trends for
perimeter foods,” notes Sarah Korwek, product manager at Shelton,
Conn.-based Inline Plastics. “Consumers continue to gravitate
towards product offerings that are both healthy and easy. Freshcut fruits, vegetables, nuts, snacks and prepared meals, displayed
in attractive packaging for a clear view of the contents, satisfy that
grab-and-go need for people and their active lifestyles.”
Shoppers around the perimeter want to see the pie, peppers or
pepperoni as they quickly grab a package for purchase. Checking a
package for quality inside is a necessary step for most customers,
which makes transparent packaging a necessity for convenience.
For example, Coborn’s Winkelman says that clear packages are
used for produce such as mini peppers or cucumbers so that the
product is visible. The clear package helps in quickly identifying
whether one of the items inside is “bad,” so produce workers can
pull the item or customers can see it before purchase. “I like to see
the product inside the bag, not just a giant label, and I think many
produce companies have realized this,” she observes. “Produce is
attractive, and the product should be seen.”

Treat the Earth Kindly

Customers are more aware than ever that clear containers
can be bad for the environment.
“For cut fruit and vegetables, we’ve actually had plenty of
feedback about making sure packages are made with recycled
materials, so we made that
switch about a year ago,”
explains Esteve. “For my

A customer
may come in to buy four
bulk apples, but enjoys
the ease of purchasing an
apple pouch and leaves
the store with 2 pounds
of apples instead.”
—Anna Brown, Food Lion

salad bars and even for the hot-food bars, the
trend seems to be moving towards biodegradable
packaging. Customers still use the clear
containers for salads, but we’ve made a
decision to offer both the clear plastic,
made from recycled materials, and a
biodegradable container.”
For her part, Winkelman sees a
trend in packaging toward more bags
and containers that are recyclable and
environmentally friendly, including plastic
clamshell containers.
“Less is more,” asserts Jeff Cady,
director of produce and floral at Williamsville, N.Y.-based Tops Markets LLC.
Packaging is becoming more eco-friendly,
with all of the positives that less plastic
and fewer packaging materials in landfills
mean for the planet, he observes, adding
that this trend leads to more environmentally friendly packaging like cardboard
and other compostable materials.
According to Esteve, packaging at

his stores’ hot-food bars is trending away from
Styrofoam toward biodegradable materials. “Our
customers are pretty vocal about many things, both
good and bad, and that’s what led to the changes
in packaging,” he notes. “Even in stores where customers were not as vocal, they noticed and gave us a
compliment or two. They notice.”

Placon makes
containers that
keep hot foods
hot and cold
foods cold.

On Top of the Trends

Inline Plastics makes a wide variety of packaging for the
perimeter. Its Safe-T-Fresh line includes containers in
all shapes and sizes that use the company’s patented
tear-strip technology. This allows consumers to see
inside and know that the product hasn’t been touched
since packaging. Safe-T-Fresh packaging can also be

Fresh-cut fruits,
vegetables, nuts, snacks
and prepared meals,
displayed in attractive
packaging for a clear view
of the contents, satisfy
that grab-and-go need for
people and their active
lifestyles.”
—Sarah Korwek, Inline Plastics

stacked easily for display without risking leaks.
Additionally, the company’s PagodaWare offers a
360-degree view of the contents, and its SnackWare
has multiple compartments so products can be
mixed and matched cleanly.
For retailers, packaging should play an integral

Know What an RPS is?
There’s a trend among U.S. grocery shoppers
to consider the package along with the ingredients when judging what’s healthy, according
to EcoFocus Worldwide, a consumer market
research group. Responsible packaging shoppers, or RPS, are leading this trend.
“Just as natural foods shoppers have
changed the landscape of grocery stores,
RPS are expected to have the same long-term
sustaining impact,” says Linda Gilbert, study
author and CEO of EcoFocus Worldwide, based
in Tampa/St. Petersburg, Fla.
RPS make up 59 percent of all grocery
shoppers — a growing number. This group
of shoppers highly values the recyclable and
renewable attributes of responsible packaging.
According to Gilbert, the group is 30 percent
more likely than all grocery shoppers to think
about the environmental impact of packaging
before purchasing products, which can also
influence where they shop.
“The conclusion for grocery retailers:
Responsible packaging matters for a growing
segment of grocery shoppers whose influence will transform the grocery store landscape,” Gilbert says.

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progressivegrocer.com

Consumers can
clearly see the
fresh products
they’re purchasing
in these
Inline Plastics
containers.

part in the marketing of products to consumers,
Inline’s Korwek notes, adding that current research
shows that consumer demand for delivery and takeout foods is rapidly on the rise. “With this growth,
consumers want to know the prepared foods they
purchase and eat at home are safe,” she observes.
“Retailers are voluntarily responding to these consumer safety concerns by packaging prepared foods
in tamper-evident containers.’
As a maker of fiber-based products and technologies
such as milk cartons and beverage cups, Evergreen
says that it pays attention to customers’ needs so that
they can trust and feel good about the products they
purchase in the company’s packaging.
Placon, based in Madison, Wis., creates custom
and thin-gauge thermoformed plastic clamshells,
trays and blisters with an environmentally responsible line of recycled PET roll-stock materials used to
create flexible and stand-up packaging. The company
makes food containers with its EcoStar stock, which is
FDA-approved food-grade recycled PET. The material
is made from curbside plastic bottles and thermoforms that otherwise would have ended up in a landfill.
The materials being used the most in perimeter
packaging include PET and polypropylene, according
to Placon, which adds that materials like recyclable
PET and its EcoStar post-consumer recycled PET
provide the clarity needed for packaging solutions.
Despite all of this innovation, and although packaged perimeter items such as produce are on the
rise, Coborn’s Winkelman thinks that there are some
limitations to packaging. “I don’t believe the whole department will ever be completely packaged, because
I feel that you can never replace the ‘bulk’ look when
it comes to merchandising,” she says. “Bulk produce
displays so nicely and looks so pretty.”

TOTAL MEAL SOLUTIONS

Retail Foodservice Q&A

Ask a Chef
ARDENT MILLS’ JASON GRONLUND HAS
A CROP OF IDE AS FOR PACKING MORE FIBER AND
NUTRITION INTO GROCER ANT FAVORITES.
By Kathy Hayden

ason Gronlund, chef and technical sales manager for foodservice at Denver-based flour supplier and grain innovator Ardent
Mills, has more than 20 years of culinary sales R&D and backof-house operations leadership experience, including stints as
VP of culinary at Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill and director of
ingredients and culinary sales at the McIlhenny Co., maker of
world-famous Tabasco sauce. From CPG development to menu
R&D, he’s done it all. Here, Gronlund shares some grocerant-ready, grain-based ideas:

Progressive Grocer: Grains have been getting a new
look since quinoa came onto the scene. What else is
new in this ingredient category?
Jason Gronlund: Quinoa really helped chefs think beyond rice
in side dishes, and it’s time for more chefs to see that there’s a grain for everything. I recently did ideation sessions with an international grocery store chain,
and we worked on frozen foods, CPG and more. Grains are especially useful in
the fresh food section, where they can boost fiber and nutrition everywhere, from
the salad bar to the pizza oven and the hot-appetizer bar.

PG: What are some of your favorite grains and some
favorite ways to use them?
JG: I’ve been doing a lot of work with Ardent Mills’ White Sonora Wheat;
this heirloom variety had been a staple wheat in the U.S. during the 1700s
and 1800s, and today is enjoying a rediscovery. Ardent Mills has individually
quick-frozen (IQF) White Sonora Wheat Berries that are soft, flavorful and
have a nice buttery color. It’s great in soups, chilis and stews like a pozole
de trigo. Pozole usually features hominy corn, but in rural Sonora, where
this dish originates, wheat pozole, or pozole de trigo, is a dish that celebrates the yearly harvest of Sonora wheat.
I also love barley. Ardent Mills has colored barleys and a higher-fiber, proprietary barley called Sustagrain. People are looking
for convenient meals that keep them full and give sustained
energy, and barley is great for that. Try serving quinoa-barley
bowls with fresh spinach, feta, vegetables and a warm herb
vinaigrette. Or top barley with salmon, mushrooms and citrusy
sauce for a prepared meal. Barley also works well with curries
and Tex-Mex flavors.

PG: What are some other ideas for using
grains in grocerant settings?
JG: Store hot bars are a great place to get more
creative. People are more open to trying new

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tastes and styles in the appetizer or snack
category. Consumers also want fail-safe
results, so that “crisp” exteriors are crisp,
and interiors have a soft, contrasting
texture. Grains can play an important role
in both of these. I’ve been developing different arancini with mixed grains. Quinoa
works really well with rice, or it can completely replace the rice and can be filled
with sauce or cheese. The idea of “tots”
also translates very well when using grains
like barley or quinoa. I like the idea of
“dusted and dipped” tots that are finished
with a spice mix and offered with sauces
for dipping. You can even sneak greens
and other veggies into grain tots. Size is
important in the appetizer/snack category.
For instance, I think savory pastries like
empanadas and Jamaican meat patties
have huge appeal for people who like
pizza rolls or other stuffed-pocket snacks,
but I recommend making smaller two-bite
versions for hot-bar items.
Pizza programs can differentiate by
incorporating mixed grains in crusts, like an
heirloom five-grain crust. Consumers have
heard “heirloom” associated with tomatoes
and other vegetables, and the word piques
interest in the stories behind ingredients.
At the same time, pizza and flatbreads are
a great way to get more fiber into popular
foods. Whole, mixed and gluten-free grains
add nutrient density, satiety, higher protein
and more fiber to dough formulations.

Store hot bars are
a great place to get more
creative. People are more
open to trying new tastes
and styles in the appetizer
or snack category.”
—Jason Gronlund, chef and technical
sales manager, foodservice, Ardent Mills

PG: What about consumersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; special dietary
concerns and nutritional needs, like gluten-free,
Paleo, etc.?
JG: Fortunately, there are many grains for people who are avoiding gluten, including amaranth,
buckwheat, millet, quinoa, sorghum and teff. These
work well in things like pilaf, grain bowls and in most

Adding grains like
barley, sorghum and
quinoa can boost
fiber and nutrition
in bowl meals, fried
treats and more.

dough applications, while also boosting whole
grain nutrition and fiber. They are available in a
variety of forms, including IQF, custom multigrain
blends, mixes, and gluten-free, all-purpose 51
percent whole multigrain flour blend. Another
great thing about ancient grains is that they appeal to modern consumers who are interested in
eating clean, simple foods.
PROGRESSIVE GROCER March 2019

73

TECHNOLOGY

Digital Marketing

It’s Personal
CONSIDER TAKING THESE STEPS TOWARD
MORE CUSTOMIZED DIGITAL MARKE TING
SOLUTIONS IN 2019. By Randy Hofbauer
oday’s brands exist in an age
when every fan wishes to
engage on a personal level —
and the most beloved brands
out there know how to do so.
That reality is no different for
grocers, which are expected to
reach every customer by understanding needs and guiding
each person along the path to
purchase in the most frictionless way possible.

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Some 90 percent of respondents to a 2017 survey
said that they find personalization appealing, and
80 percent said that they would be more likely to
do business with a company if it offers personalized experiences, according to “The Power of Me:
The Impact of Personalization on Marketing Performance,” a 2018 report from Irving, Texas-based
digital marketing firm Epsilon. Moreover, consumers
who believe personalized experiences are very
appealing are 10 times more likely to be a brand’s
most valuable customer — those expected to make
15-plus transactions in one year. And those respondents who believe that companies are doing very well
on offering personalized experiences shop more than
three times more frequently.
The fact is, you can’t be a truly progressive grocer
today and not offer personalized marketing to your
shoppers, and this reality is only going to become
more pressing in the coming years.

To offer more personalized marketing, consider doing the following:

Unifying Data Across Disparate Systems

Understanding the shopper is a data-intensive process, and all
too often, there are too many barriers to communication between
the people managing shoppers’ data, since it’s siloed across
online and offline systems, which are often managed by separate
teams with separate priorities and KPIs.
“For example, at a large grocer, the loyalty team might be focused on in-store purchase behavior and loyalty-specific promotional tactics, while digital and ecommerce are focused solely on
online purchases and digital marketing channels,” says Waleed
Ayoub, chief technology officer at Rubikloud, a Toronto-based
provider of artificial intelligence software.
Having centralized data means that both teams can have a consolidated, full view of the shopper across all touchpoints — from
in-store to online, or via mobile apps.

Emailing Personalized Offers

Grocers should be capitalizing on their regular emails sent to
shoppers by leveraging loyalty and historical transactional data, and
combining them with on-sale and recommended items based on
that data that a shopper might purchase, advises Sylvain Perrier, president and CEO of Mercatus, a Toronto-based provider of
platforms for grocery ecommerce. This strategy enables a grocer to
slowly shift consumers toward new items and move them up in the
category or laterally toward adjacent products.
Minneapolis-based Target Corp. does this, basing deals off past
purchases, according to David Bishop, partner with Barrington,
Ill.-based retail consultancy Brick Meets Click. Bishop notes that his
household, which signed up to receive special deals, receives offers
based on past purchases that his household members have made
at the retailer — in their case, both online and in-store, and paid for
through Target’s Redcard loyalty program.
Additionally, grocers should leverage the same data on their
ecommerce platforms, Perrier suggests.
“Combined with individual shoppers’ preferences and recommended products that are tied to their lifestyles — vegan, kosher,
heart-friendly, etc. — this speeds up discoverability for the shopper
and enables a retailer to generate additional revenue,” he observes.

Personalizing the At-Shelf
Moment of Truth

Retailers are personalizing shelf tags and channel
displays to provide product ingredient transparency, improve “findability,” and communicate their
commitment to helping shoppers make healthful
choices for themselves and their families, says
Rich Coleman, VP at Conversant, a Chicago-based
provider of personalized digital marketing solutions.
Grocers are doing this through feedback provided
by shoppers and loyalty data.
“For example, Raley’s recently revamped their entire
private label lines by removing many ingredients that
have been deemed harmful from their products, based
on consumer feedback and the products most often
purchased by their shoppers,” Coleman notes. “They
are also using their loyalty data to market specific
health-and-wellness messages and products based on
attributes through their email and direct mail campaigns.”
Another example that Coleman points to is the Cincinnati-based grocery giant Kroger Co., which recently
launched its electronic shelf technology in partnership
with Microsoft. The innovation guides shoppers to
products that fit their purchase profile — consumers
can actually personalize the icon displayed on the shelf
where the product is located.
“This is significant because, according to Forrester, 65 percent of surveyed consumers say their
purchasing decisions are influenced by words and
actions of a company’s leaders, and 76 percent of
surveyed consumers say they are attracted to organizations that are committed to using good-quality
ingredients,” he says. “Aligning marketing messages
and merchandising, and ultimately the retailer’s

Offering a Substitute

All too often when ordering online, shoppers don’t have a real-time
view of what’s on shelf or in the fulfillment center, leading to orders
of out-of-stock products.
Some grocers have a way to get around this, however, including
Woodman’s, a Janesville, Wis.-based grocer that operates 16 independent grocery stores in Wisconsin and Illinois. The grocer’s mobile
app allows shoppers to identify whether they’ll accept substitutes.
“While others will either notify the customer when this
happens or confirm the substitution is acceptable when the
customer is receiving the order, Woodman’s gives the customer
control in the app to identify exactly what items they deem as
acceptable alternatives,” Bishop points out.
This example isn’t linked to a household’s ID, but it’s still a personalization tactic that, in the end, will help improve the shopper’s experience.
PROGRESSIVE GROCER March 2019

75

TECHNOLOGY

Digital Marketing

Aligning marketing messages
and merchandising, and ultimately the
retailer’s customer value proposition, to
their customer’s personal values and
beliefs will create trust, loyalty and a
differentiation from their competitors.”
—Rich Coleman, Conversant
customer value proposition, to their customer’s personal values
and beliefs will create trust, loyalty and a differentiation from
their competitors. This spells a growth in market share and
maintaining sales and trips to the store.”

Reminding Shoppers About
Unfinished Purchases

All too often, we get distracted by a better deal or get cold feet
at the last minute, causing us to abandon a site in the middle of
building a cart — thus abandoning that cart. In fact, the average
ecommerce store loses more than three-quarters of its sales to

cart abandonment, according to New York-based
data provider Statista.
If, as a grocer, you have this problem — as well as these
shoppers’ contact info on hand — you can reach out to
them to remind them of their unfinished transactions, and
even drive some additional sales in the process. Be honest
and let them know whether a product in their cart is almost
sold out. Or remind them that something in their cart is now
— or still — on sale, but only for a limited time.
Pointing to Target again, Bishop notes something
similar he experienced at the mass merchandiser, only
instead of focusing on the cart, it involved an individual
product he scanned via Target’s mobile app to take
advantage of any special deals.
“I scanned a bottle of Nature’s Best Melatonin,
but elected to buy another brand that was a better
deal without scanning it with the app,” he recounts.
“Today, I received an email, asking if I still wanted the
Nature’s Best — and it offered a deal, e.g., ‘Buy One
and Get One 25 Percent Off.’ Clearly, to me at least,
their process didn’t analyze whether I purchased a
different, but still similar type of, product. However, I’m
assuming that will be done in the near future.”

Track Their Movements

This is arguably the most intrusive suggestion
for personalizing shopper marketing, but it’s
also the one most in its infancy at the grocery
level: eye tracking and sensor technology. As
an example of this, David Rich, CEO of Chicago-based simulation software provider InContext Solutions, points to a test by Deerfield,
Ill.-based drug store chain Walgreen Co.
“Walgreens recently piloted a technology at six
of its stores that equips commercial refrigerators
and freezers with cameras and eye-tracking technology,” he notes. “As customers walk past the
store’s glass beverage cases, the surface of the
glass actually changes via an LED screen display
to highlight a specific product in the case.”
In this pilot — and for any grocer choosing to
try something similar — the technology chooses
which product to highlight based on a shopper’s
characteristics, such as age and gender. Walgreens
even tested the ability to track emotional response
to products, which the technology also picks up, for
an even more personalized experience.

Step
Right Up
AIDED BY CRE ATIVE
DESIGN MODIFICATIONS,
KIOSKS ARE BECOMING
UBIQUITOUS IN SUPERMARKE TS.
By Bob Ingram

n the past decade, supermarket kiosk
use has grown almost incrementally
as the stand-alone devices have
become more sophisticated and even
eye-catching.
Case in point: Casey’s Foods, an
independent grocer in Naperville, Ill., a
western suburb of Chicago, has had a
kiosk system in place since 2015.
“We have two in-store kiosks and
online ordering capabilities,” owner
Dan Casey says of the system and
support provided by Troy, Mich.-based Nextep Systems.
“They were the best fit for our business at the time.”
Though Casey says it’s difficult to quantify return
on investment, some of the “obvious benefits have
been the convenience factor for our customers, a
bit of efficiency on the labor end, and the image of
keeping up with technology.”
And perhaps best of all, “customers love it,” Casey
asserts. “We are doing around 5 percent of deli business through the kiosks,” he continues, noting that
Sunday is the store’s biggest day for kiosk orders.

Key Takeaways
To remain competitive, grocers should
avoid potentially long checkout and deli
lines in their stores by implementing
kiosks to provide a more efficient,
convenient and time-saving experience.
Beyond purely grocery-related functions,
in-store kiosks can enable supermarket
shoppers to cash in coins or sell old jewelry
more easily than ever before.
Evolving features of kiosks include smaller
footprints, ADA compliance, security
safeguards, improved performance,
multifunctionality, and a more attractive,
welcoming appearance.

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“I thought it would be more, but customer
familiarity with our staff will have people
waiting in line to get served at the counter
by someone they know. I think the percentage of sales would be higher if I didn’t have
such a well-staffed service counter.”

Friction-Free Shopping

To stay competitive, grocers need to
remove friction points for shoppers, like
checkout and deli lines, says David Anza, SVP of
sales at Frank Mayer and Associates, in Grafton, Wis.
“These spaces are where we’re seeing more kiosks
being implemented to provide the solutions.”
Anza’s company has designed and produced a
transactional kiosk that can be used in a variety of
supermarket venues, as well as a kiosk for a partner to
aid in self-checkout with handheld devices.
As technology has improved, smaller kiosks can
house just as much “punch” as a larger unit, but with a
smaller footprint in a store’s valuable real estate, Anza
says, adding, “We’re always mindful of ADA requirements, ensuring our kiosks are accessible to all.”
Last year, Frank Mayer partnered with The Kroger Co.
to produce the grocer’s Scan, Bag, Go kiosks, which
allow customers to shop and check out using handheld
devices provided in-store. The supplier also offers a
self-service kiosk called Approach that can be used in
various departments throughout the supermarket.

Go for the Gold

“As machines become smarter and incorporate more
artificial intelligence (AI) features, we will see continued
rollout of smart kiosks nationwide,” predicts Kevin Miller,
co-founder and COO of Newport Beach, Calif.-based

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Kroger’s Scan,
Bag, Go kiosks
are from Frank
Mayer and
Associates.

Goldstur, whose single kiosk model can
analyze precious metals in minutes and
offer a bid to buy an item on the spot.
“Annually, Americans spend between
$60 billion and $70 billion on jewelry,
excluding watches,” Miller notes, “so
we will have our hands full for quite
some time. Our aim is to make it
convenient and trustworthy for the
consumer to get an appraisal and sell their old jewelry
without it ever leaving their possession or having to
drive to a less-than-desirable part of town.”
Miller continues, “As we deploy these kiosks
throughout the country, we are offering valuable service
to the consumer and the grocer all in the safe and
trustworthy confines of a grocery store.”
Goldstur has implemented biometrics and AI features in its kiosks to make them more efficient and add
another layer of security and trust in the marketplace.
“We want to be on the cutting edge of technology and
ahead of the curve when it comes to compliance,”
Miller says.

Make it Count

Peerless-AV’s
charging station
at a Whole Foods
Market features
avertisements.

Supermarkets are ideal locations for self-service kiosks,
says Jim Gaherity, CEO of Bellevue, Wash.-based
Coinstar LLC, a division of Apollo Global Management,
“given consumers’ frequency of visits and the ability to
take care of multiple errands with one convenient stop.”
Letting Coinstar manage self-service coin counting
at the store eliminates any need for capital expenditures, store labor, risk management, or costly service
plans to deploy and maintain the kiosk network,
Gaherity observes. “Coinstar’s turnkey service lets
[retailers] focus on their customers and invest capital
and talent where it matters
most,” he says, noting that
kiosks provide added value for
retailers, because customers
cashing in coins have extra
cash on hand and are likely
to purchase additional items
or upgrade purchases, for a
higher basket ring.
“The Coinstar kiosk was built
from the ground up to be a consumer-facing self-service coin
kiosk,” he explains. “Our proprietary filtering and coin-cleaning
technology translates to higher
machine accuracy and reliability. The kiosk filters out foreign
objects like paper clips, dirt and
debris that might be found in a
coin jar. This robust technology,
while invisible to the consumer,

creates a positive experience at the kiosk.”
The Coinstar technology platform has been updated
to allow the addition of new products like an option that
enables consumers to convert their change to an eGift
card from such retailers as Amazon.com, Home Depot
or Starbucks, and pay no fee. Some kiosks also feature
bill acceptors, allowing Coinstar to broaden its offerings
to include products like Amazon Cash, which lets consumers add to their Amazon balance by inserting paper
currency into the bill acceptor.
The company’s latest offering, announced last month,
allows consumers to purchase Bitcoin from Coinme at
select Coinstar kiosks. “Currently, this feature is available
in a few states,” Gaherity says, “but is expected to expand based on the acceptance of the offering.”
He adds, “Our partnership with Coinme is
just one of hundreds of use cases for that physical-to-digital exchange.”
Meanwhile, Cummins Allison, in Mount Prospect,
Ill., offers several options that enable grocers to keep
a significantly greater percentage of self-service coin
redemption revenue — up to 7 percent profit potential.
Jim Weaks, VP of the company’s self-service coin
business unit, says that its Money Machine 2 offers
speed of transactions, high availability, a smaller footprint and quiet performance. Additionally, its enhanced
coin discrimination technology differentiates coins more
precisely and provides more accurate counts.
Cummins Allison recently launched a rent-to-own
program designed to help grocers preserve capital,
delivering flexibility in product and lease terms.
“We anticipate that grocers will continue to
implement kiosks as a fresh way to differentiate,
drive incremental revenue and add in-store value,”
Weaks predicts.

Adapting to Customer Habits

The increased popularity of supermarket kiosks is
largely attributable to the role of Millennials in today’s
society, asserts Rob Meiner, kiosk business unit
manager at Peerless-AV, in Aurora, Ill.
“They are plugged in to their devices and are
disrupting traditional purchasing patterns,” says
Meiner, whose company produces interactive floor
or wall kiosks with facial recognition software,
and wayfinding kiosks. “To retain this audience,
supermarkets must be able to provide streamlined,
user-friendly systems and processes.”
Peerless-AV’s kiosks save space, are non-intrusive,
can be easily installed in a few hours so as not to affect
shoppers, and require a minimum of maintenance by
supermarket staff, Meiner notes.
“Our kiosks’ designs have changed with the trends
of fashion and supermarkets’ operability,” he says.
“We started off with boxy, square-looking kiosks. We
migrated to softer lines and corners; utilized different

Smaller-footprint
kiosks are becoming a much
more attractive alternative to
larger-screen kiosk models
that accompany a higher
capital expense.”
—Karla Guarino, Kiosk Group Inc.

materials such as plastic, wood and stainless steel; and
worked to partner with other hardware companies to
incorporate the best components for a kiosk. These
additional components include camera, barcode scanners, printers, routers and media players.”
Meiner believes that future interactive kiosk solutions
will allow supermarkets to offer a three-dimensional experience rather than simple self-service. An example he
provides is that a kiosk can promote a special or mimic
the shopping experience, projecting specific items on a
wall or through virtual reality.
“A big focus for Peerless-AV centers around outdoor solutions,” Meiner says. “For example, we have
created a kiosk with Volta Charging that provides
electrical vehicle-charging capabilities while customers are inside the store.”
In Frederick, Md., at Kiosk Group Inc., Director
of Sales Karla Guarino notes that users are on their
smartphones almost three hours a day, citing information from BankMyCell, and that “this justifies using
smaller screens in retail spaces for iPads and tablets,
and these smaller-footprint kiosks are becoming a
much more attractive alternative to larger-screen kiosk
models that accompany a higher capital expense.”
These kinds of kiosks, she contends, offer easier
field service by simple component swapouts, eliminating many external field-service calls for support.
“Our kiosks are multifunctional, and models can
include stand-alone, countertop or customized wallmount models with brackets to attach to existing counters and other fixed grocery shelving,” Guarino says.
She notes that kiosk design refinements include
more customization for special add-on components
such as Ingenico and Square pinpad devices, printers,
scanners, and a greater selection of graphic, branding
and custom-finish options.
“We are also expanding our facility to support full
turnkey integration for larger companies that want us
to ship a fully turnkey solution to their stores for easy
unpack, plug and play,” Guarino adds.
Other projects in the works at the company are a new
ADA sliding tablet kiosk for automatic height adjustment,
new enclosure edge finishes and material finishes.
PROGRESSIVE GROCER March 2019

81

Epidemic
Proportions
GROCERS ARE JOINING THE BAT TLE AGAINST THE
SCOURGE OF OPIOID ADDICTION, ARMED WITH A
R ANGE OF INITIATIVES.
By Barbara Sax
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progressivegrocer.com

Key Takeaways
As trusted health care
professionals, pharmacists —
including those at supermarkets
— are uniquely positioned
to engage their patients on
the critical issue of opioid abuse.
Many supermarket pharmacists
are undergoing training to enable
them to answer consumers’
questions about opioids and
provide counseling.

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Pharmacy

Grocers’ programs include
educating schoolchildren;
takeback programs to collect
unused drugs, many in partnership
with the DEA or local law
enforcement authorities; systems
that allow for safe disposal of
medications at home; and making
naloxone, which can reverse opioid
overdoses, easily available.

he United States is facing an
unprecedented opioid epidemic
that has become a public health
emergency. The U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services
estimates that 2.1 million people
in this country struggle with an
opioid-use disorder, while 116
people die from opioid-related
drug overdoses every day, according to the Health Resources
and Services Administration.
This widespread issue demands grassroots community action,
and grocery chains are stepping up their efforts to involve their
pharmacists in the fight against opioid abuse through programs to
educate consumers, methods to control access to unused opioids,
and providing drugs that can combat overdoses.
“As trusted health care professionals, pharmacists are uniquely positioned to engage their patients on this critical issue,” says
John Parker, SVP of communications for the Arlington, Va.-based
Healthcare Distribution Alliance, a national organization representing primary pharmaceutical distributors. “Allied Against Opioid
Abuse (AAOA) commissioned a poll that
showed many patients do not know about
prescription opioid safety, but would like
to learn more from their pharmacist. We
are working with our pharmacy partners
As a
to make sure pharmacists have tools and
community health
resources to educate their patients about
care provider, we’re
the rights, risks and responsibilities assocommitted to doing
ciated with these pain medications.”
Launched in February 2018, AAOA
our part to help
created the AAOA Pharmacy Toolkit to
address drug abuse
help pharmacists navigate difficult but
and misuse.”
important conversations to help prevent
—Leigh Shirley,
opioid abuse and misuse.
Giant Food Stores
“More than 9 million customers visit
our family of stores every day, providing
us the opportunity to influence and educate about the opioid
epidemic and how we can partner to solve the epidemic,” notes
Colleen Lindholz, president of Kroger Health for the Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. “In 2019, we are requiring our pharmacists
to take three-plus hours of opioid education, ranging in topic
from helping patients with addictions, to reviewing acute and
chronic pain management guidelines, to pathways on safer opioid use. Additionally, pharmacy technicians will also be required
to participate in select opioid education programs.”
Kroger partnered with Washington, D.C.-based education
technology company EverFi in 2018 to provide a computer-based
program available to high school students in nine cities. Aligned
with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s national
health education standards and state academic standards, the
program teaches students how to properly read a prescription drug
label, and also communicates the dangers of misusing prescription
medications. “In the 2018-19 school year, we expect more than
13,500 students to receive this training,” says Lindholz.
PROGRESSIVE GROCER March 2019

83

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Pharmacy

Albertsons Cos. is educating students as well, with
a program targeted to middle schoolers. “We’re most
proud of our outreach efforts to educate middle school
children on medication safety and smart medication
use,” says Mark Panzer, SVP of pharmacy, health and
wellness at Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons. “Our pharmacy residents and pharmacists presented information
to students on the benefits and risks associated with
medication use; misuse; impacts of misuse; identifying
opioids; commonly used products and ‘slang’ terminology; current trends and dangers associated with opioid
misuse; how to safely use medications, specifically opioids; the signs of an opioid overdose; steps to take if an
overdose is suspected; and the importance of talking
with a pharmacist about medication-use questions.”

Takeback Services Expand

Unused and expired medications that remain in homes
can pose significant public health and safety concerns,
due to their high susceptibility to diversion, misuse and
abuse. Studies show that more than half of all people
who first misuse prescription drugs get them from their
friends or relatives, or take them without asking.
Takeback services can play an important part in giving
patients the opportunity to securely dispose of potentially
dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription
drugs, and may help limit the misuse of such drugs.
“Removing unused medication from patients’ homes
is a key to solving the opioid epidemic,” asserts Kroger’s Lindholz. “According to the 2016 National Survey

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Kroger hosted
more than 300 drug
takeback events
last year in an effort
to help consumers
properly dispose of
unused opioids.

on Drug Use and Health, 53 percent of
respondents obtained the last opioid they
misused from a friend or relative.”
In April 2018, Kroger hosted 107 drug
takeback events and collected more than
17,500 pounds of unused prescription
drugs, and this past October, the chain
hosted 203 drug takeback events, during
which it collected about 24,000 pounds
of unused prescription drugs. According
to Lindholz, the company will continue its
efforts in 2019.
“The opioid epidemic is a serious public
health issue, one that requires action and
efforts by everyone,” says Leigh Shirley,
RPh, director of pharmacy for Carlisle, Pa.based Giant Food Stores. “As a community
health care provider, we’re committed to
doing our part to help address drug abuse
and misuse. Participating in drug takeback events with the DEA and local law
enforcement agencies is one way we are
able to help combat the opioid epidemic in
the communities we serve. Our pharmacists are also able to direct patients to other
drug disposal sites throughout the year and
answer questions they may have about … other topics
related to the opioid crisis.”
For its part, Albertsons offers patients medication
takeback counseling services year-round in all of
its pharmacies. To further promote this service, the
chain participates with the DEA’s National Prescription Take Back program and teams with Consumer
Reports for National Check Your Meds Day. “By
offering and promoting this service, our pharmacists
not only follow through with their commitment to
taking care of their patients, but they increase the
pharmacist-patient trust and their accessibility as a
health care provider in the community,” says Panzer.
“We also offer patients home medication disposal
instructions created by the FDA for the specific drugs
that can be safely disposed of at home.”
Albertsons’ takeback service also includes pharmacist counseling on doses that are too high, the possibility
of adverse interactions, whether taking some medicines
is worth reconsidering — certain drugs are taken to control side effects of other drugs, when a lifestyle change
might work better or just as well — and recommendations about what to discuss with a patient’s doctor, such
as lowering a dose or stopping a medication.
Rochester, N.Y.-based Wegmans Food Markets has
partnered with local law enforcement agencies across
its six-state footprint to host community prescription
medication drop-off events. Meanwhile, South Bend,
Ind.-based Martin’s Super Markets has joined forces
with the 525 Foundation, an organization in the gro-

cer’s hometown dedicated to raising awareness
of the dangers of prescription drug abuse, to
place secure drop boxes for expired or unneeded medications at three of its locations.

Safe Disposal at Home

In addition to takeback events,
supermarkets are giving
consumers the option of using
systems at home that render their leftover prescription
medications inactive. Sanford,
N.C.-based DisposeRx offers a
solution containing ingredients that, when
emptied into a pill bottle with warm water,
enable patients to responsibly dispose of
leftover medications in their trash, according
to the manufacturer.
At Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart, patients
filling any new Class II opioid prescription receive a free
DisposeRx packet and an opioid safety informational
brochure when they pick up their prescription. Patients
with chronic Class II opioid prescriptions are offered a
free DisposeRx packet every six months. Kroger also
offers its customers DisposeRX, providing a free packet
with certain acute-care opioid prescriptions.
Meanwhile, Big Y Pharmacy and Wellness Centers,
operated by Springfield, Mass.-based Big Y Supermarkets, have adopted the Deterra Drug Deactivation
System, from Minnetonka, Minn.-based Verde Technologies, offering consumers the in-home drug disposal
system to permanently deactivate unused drugs.

Combating Opioid Overdoses

More supermarket pharmacies are stocking naloxone,
a lifesaving medication that can reverse the effects of
an opioid overdose. The drug, which can be administered as a nasal spray or an injection, must be given
while also calling 911 for medical assistance.
“We know the availability of this medication has
the potential to save lives,” says Kristin Williams, SVP
and chief health officer for West Des Moines, Iowa-based Hy-Vee. “It’s vital to do everything we can
to assist a loved one who may encounter an opioid

From the beginning of
this year to mid-October, our
pharmacies dispensed nearly
14,000 doses of naloxone — each
dose may have saved a life.”
—Colleen Lindholz, The Kroger Co.

overdose by combining medications
or by accidentally taking too much
of a medication, being unaware of the
life-threatening results.”
Hy-Vee offers naloxone without a prescription in the eight states where it operates pharmacies:
Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska,
South Dakota and Wisconsin.
Kroger offers naloxone in each of the company’s
nearly 2,200 pharmacies, dispensing the medication
without a prescription where allowable by state law.
“From the beginning of this year to mid-October, our
pharmacies dispensed nearly 14,000 doses of naloxone
— each dose may have saved a life,” notes Lindholz.
All of Giant/Martin’s 138 pharmacies and all Big Y
locations also provide naloxone, and pharmacists at
those chains dispense the drug without a prescription where allowed. “All pharmacists have received
broad training on naloxone, covering topics like the
proper use of various products, the various forms
available, ways to identify patients most at risk for an
accidental overdose based on their prescriptions and
other risk factors, and more,” explains Giant’s Shirley.
More than 1,600 Albertsons pharmacies across 21
states carry Narcan, an FDA-approved naloxone nasal
spray. “We’ve specially trained over 4,000 pharmacists
to administer the FDA-approved Narcan nasal spray and
counsel patients on the treatment of this medication,”
says Panzer. Training includes how to counsel patients
on the availability and appropriateness of naloxone
therapy, how to privately consult with a patient or caregiver to determine eligibility for Narcan, how to use the
product, and what to watch for after use.
PROGRESSIVE GROCER March 2019

85

EDITORS’ PICKS

Food, Beverage & Nonfood Products

Delish Fish

”A growing number of people are looking to eat more healthfully, with seafood being a great source of lean protein. But since cooking fish at home
can be an intimidating affair, LoveTheWild has relaunched its sustainably
farmed fish kits, which are just what health-conscious consumers seek: a
line of easy-to-prepare seafood-based meal solutions designed for foodies
concerned about the environment. Varieties include such new offerings as
Barramundi with Mango Sriracha, Shrimp with Cajun Crème, and Rainbow
Trout with Salsa Verde, which join Red Trout with Salsa Verde, Salmon with
Maple Mustard, Shrimp with Coconut Red Curry, Barramundi with Red
Pepper Almond, Shrimp with Tomato Butter, Salmon with Miso Honey Ginger, and Barramundi with Cajun Crème. In addition to offering easy-prep,
farm-raised fish products from top sources worldwide, LovetheWild has implemented further eco-friendly measures by overhauling its packaging to be
more sustainable, and reducing portion sizes to align with the USDA-recommended serving size and eliminate leftover waste. Those initiatives,
coupled with other efficiencies, have reduced each product’s
cost by 30 percent. The SRPs are $6.99 per meal and $5.99 per bowl.
https://lovethewild.com

Old Brew Meets New

Beer connoisseurs have widely varying tastes, and are often faced with the difficult choice
of a tried-and-true import versus a more contemporary American craft brew. So what
happens when you pair a present-day craft brewer with an old-guard international brand?
You get the new Newcastle Brown Ale. The result of a partnership between Lagunitas
Brewing Co. and Heineken USA, the beverage brings together a unique blend of pale and
roasted malts with American hops — specifically, American Centennial and Chinook hops
— and is fermented using Lagunitas’ English house-ale yeast. The medium-colored brown
ale is said to be smooth, crisp and slightly roasty — complete with a hoppy twist. The
beer retails for a suggested $7.99 per 6-pack. www.heinekenusa.com

Coffee Time

While most Americans turn to
coffee for a morning pick-me-up
or post-meal beverage, there are
those who understand its power
to truly bring out bold flavors in
the most unlikely dishes. George
DeLallo Co. gets this and is now
offering DeLallo Instant Espresso
Powder, said to provide a suitable
boost of flavor to dishes both
sweet and savory — from richer
chocolates to more complex meat
rubs. A few tablespoons can add
rich notes of flavor, pairing perfectly with spices such as cumin
and paprika as it balances the
spicy, acidic and smoky flavors
in chili recipes, sauces, stews
and salsa dips. Each 1.94-ounce
jar retails for a suggested $5.09.
www.delallo.com

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A Spoonful of Magic

Like it or not — trend or fad — unicorns are back in
style. You’ll find them in many products, even foods,
from cereal to the Starbucks Unicorn Frappuccino that
was available for a limited time. Now Conagra Brands
has jumped on the bandwagon of unicorn-themed
treats, launching Unicorn Magic pudding cups under
its Snack Pack brand. Featuring a sweet flavor and
pink and blue hues, the shelf-stable yogurt is intended
to add a “vibrant pop” of color to dessert or snack
time. The cups retail for a suggested $2.79 per
6-pack. www.conagra.com

Time-Saving Taters

Potatoes aren’t that difficult to prepare,
but when you’re pressed for time, any minutes saved are much appreciated. Enter
Bob Evans Farms’ Steamables steam-inbag sides, which come in three varieties:
Sea Salt Red Potato Wedges, Steak
House Red Potato Wedges and Garlic Red
Potato Wedges. Each variety comes in a
22-ounce bag and contains 100 calories
or fewer per serving. The refrigerated
sides are ready after just five minutes in
the microwave, and each bag features a
resealable zipper so consumers can add
their choice of cooking oil prior to cooking.
Each bag retails for a suggested $3.49.
www.bobevansgrocery.com

Bountiful Bowls

It’s not often that a brand develops a new category, but when it does,
grocers and consumers alike take notice. Worthy believes it has done just
that, claiming to have created an “entirely new category of plant-based
snacks” with its Blendie Bowl combinations of fruits, veggies, legumes
and chia together in a bowl that can be sold either shelf-stable or chilled.
Available in four varieties — Strawberries & Greens (strawberry rhubarb
pie), Dark Cocoa Cherry (chocolate brownie with a cherry on top), Vanilla
Orange (creamy orange-vanilla popsicle), and Green Tropics (piña colada) — the bowls provide two servings of vegetables and fruit, along with
8 grams of fiber, 8 grams of protein and only 150 calories per serving.
Additionally, the bowls are nondairy and contain no soy, gluten or nuts (as
appropriate), and provide 250 milligrams of omega-3s and -6s. They retail
for a suggested $2.99 each. www.theworthycompany.com

Steering Toward Purity

As more consumers take interest in what they’re eating and where it comes from, they’re increasingly
seeking single-origin, traceable products. That holds true not just for coffee or chocolate, but also for
beef: Nurture Ranch 1 Steer Ground Beef is said to be the only packaged grass-fed ground beef made
up of meat from just one steer per pack, and features a code tracing the nurturing history from birth to
harvest. Processing each package from a single steer is said to be 100 percent cleaner than industry
standards, meaning that average acceptable standards for potential bacteria in ground beef are 100
percent higher than in Nurture Ranch 1 Steer and 1 Cow ground beef. The beef is also claimed not to
have a heavy, rich aftertaste due to its being cleaner. The 100 percent grass-fed product retails for a
suggested $9 per 1-pound package. www.nurtureranch.com

For the Plant-Based Sweet Tooth

As more people adopt so-called “flexitarian” diets and seek plant-based
alternatives to their favorite foods, it’s only natural that they’re going to
want something to satisfy their sweet tooth, too. Thankfully, Unilever
has officially entered the vegan sector with its Magnum frozen treats.
Magnum Non-Dairy frozen dessert bars combine Belgian chocolate
— made from cocoa beans from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms —
with a creamy vanilla base composed of a blend of coconut oil and pea
protein. Available in two varieties — Classic and Almond — the frozen
treats have an SRP range of $4.99-$5.49 per 9.12-fluid-ounce box, each
of which contains three bars. www.magnumicecream.com
PROGRESSIVE GROCER March 2019

87

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re looking for the most
innovative meal solution concepts!

Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen’s
8 Keys to Grocery Retail Transformation
NRF 2019 IS LONG OVER, BUT THE GROCERY GIANT CHIEF’S INSIGHTS ARE E VERGREEN.
etail’s Big Show 2019
in January might feel
like ages ago, but so
many of the learnings
I gathered at the National Retail Federation event are evergreen — particularly
those I walked away
with after watching
Rodney McMullen,
CEO of The Kroger
Co., in an on-stage interview with Sara Eisen, anchor
of CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” and “Closing
Bell,” the morning of the show’s opening day.
In my blog post covering the keynote at the
event, which took place Jan. 12-15 at the Jacob
K. Javits Center, in New York, I documented
eight points that McMullen made on what grocers need to do — and how they can learn from
Kroger’s own story — to succeed on the path to
retail transformation. After posting the blog, I
watched the page views shoot up — it quickly
became the most-read piece of content on Progressive Grocer’s website that month.
So I’d be an idiot not to share those insights with
the folks who read PG’s print publication each
month but missed the report on — or rarely, if at
all, visit — www.progressivegrocer.com, right?
(Though you probably should go bookmark PG’s
website and subscribe to the newsletter at the URL
above, in my humble opinion!)
In McMullen’s mind, grocers seeking to transform
in this new age of commerce must know that:
It’s important to know when
to go it alone with a plan
— and when to get a partner.
In Cincinnati-based Kroger’s case,
partners have included U.K. online
grocer Ocado for automating
ecommerce, Alibaba Group to distribute Simple Truth organic private label products in China
through its Tmall platform, and
Mountain View, Calif.-based Nuro
to deliver groceries via autonomous vehicles in Scottsdale, Ariz.

1

90

progressivegrocer.com

They don’t have to know exactly what
your customer wants from the get-go,
but they do have to build something that
lets the customer respond, and show them
where to go.

2

The future
of grocery
retail won’t
be digital,
and it won’t
be physical,
either. It will
be problemsolving and
purposedriven.

Retail isn’t going away. Sure, it won’t
look like it does today, but it won’t
disappear. Maybe it will involve ordering
from in-store screens. Maybe it will involve technology telling shoppers what
they want for dinner when they scan a
loyalty card. McMullen assured attendees
that whatever the changes are, they’ll ultimately be “super fun.”

3

The future of grocery retail won’t be digital, and it won’t be physical, either. It
will be problem-solving and purpose-driven.

4

Retail is incredibly important. What
other field is known to give so many
people their first job — and to provide such
an opportunity to take on so many responsibilities in that role?

5

When positioning your company
for the future, focus on what’s next
rather than what’s there.

6

The store of the future might be the
same size as a traditional grocery store
today — but half might be experience-based,
while the other half might be efficiency-based.

7

While Amazon’s entrance
into grocery certainly has lit
a fire under a lot of grocers, it isn’t
what ultimately led Kroger to begin its transformation. McMullen
stressed that Kroger’s transformation journey began not because of
what any other retailer did, but
rather because of what it thought
other retailers were going to do,
although it did suspect that Amazon was going to enter brick-andmortar grocery retail.

Our pasture-raised, corn-finished cattle
are hand-selected from the finest Black
Angus ranches in America. That means
a guarantee of verified Angus genetics for
the highest quality beef you’ll find anywhere.
And we mean anywhere….Only the top 1% of
all the verified Angus cattle make it through
our rigid selection process, which is why you
can expect superior flavor, that’s tender like
you’ve never tasted tender before.
Make a cattle call to Creekstone Farms today.

www.CreekstoneFarms.com
Contact Christine Tanner for more information
at 620-741-3357 or email creekstoneinfo@cfpbeef.com.

Unilever is committed to making sustainable living commonplace. Our mission serves to bring positive change to
the food industry through collaboration and by driving growth with purpose. Visit
www.UnileverPurpose.com to hear how our sustainable living brands are contributing to make a real difference.